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Philadelphia,  March  1st,  1S27. 
THIS  DAY  IS  PUBLISHED, 

BY 

H.  C.  Carey  8j  I.  Lea,  Philadelphia, 

THE   FIRST    NUMBER 

OF  THE 

AMERICAN    QUARTERLY    REVIEW. 


CONTENTS. 

ARTICLE  I.     AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY. 

An  American  Biographical  and  Historical  Dictionary,  &c.  By  William 
Allen,  A.  M. 

A  Biographical  Dictionary,  containing-  a  Brief  Account  of  the  First  Set 
tlers,  and  other  Eminent  Characters  in  New-England.  By  John  Eliot, 
D.  D. 

Biography  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  By  John 
Sanderson. 

ARTICLE  II.    TRIGONOMETRY. 

Elements  of  Analytic  Trigonometry,  Plane  and  Spherical.  By  F.  R, 
Hassler,  F.  A.  P.  S. 

ARTICLE  III.     EULOGIES  ON  JEFFERSON  AND  ADAMS. 

A  Selection  of  Eulogies,  pronounced  in  the  several  States,  in  honour  of 
those  illustrious  Patriots  and  Statesmen,  John  Adams  and  Thomas 
Jefferson. 

ARTICLE  IV.     FOSSIL  REMAINS. 

Historical  Researches  on  the  Wars  and  Sports  of  the  Mongls  and  Ro 
mans  ;  in  which  Elephants  and  wild  Beasts  were  employed  or  slain ; 
and  the  remarkable  local  agreement  of  History  with  the  Remains  of 
such  Animals  found  in  Europe  and  Siberia.  By  John  Ranking. 

ARTICLE  V.     DOCTRINE  OF  CONTRACTS. 

An  Essay  on  the  Doctrine  of  Contracts;  being  an  Inquiry  how  Contracts 
are  aifected,  in  Law  and  Morals,  by  Concealment,  Error,  or  inade 
quate  Price.  By  Gillian  C.  Verplanck. 

\RTICLE  VI.     SECRET  JOURNALS  OF  THE  OLD  CONGRESS. 

Secret  Journals  of  the  Acts  and  Proceedings  of  Congress,  from  the  first 
Meeting  thereof,  to  the  Dissolution  of  the  Confederation,  by  the  adop- 
1-ion  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CAT  : 
DAVIS 


ARTICLE  VII.     MRS.  HEMANS'S  POEMS. 

Poems.    By  Mrs.  Hemans. 

ARTICLE  VIII.     KENT  ON  AMERICAN  LAW. 

Commentaries  on  American  Law.     By  James  Kent.    Vol.  I. 

ARTICLE  IX.     FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

The  Life  of  Napoleon  Buonaparte,  with  a  Preliminary  View  of  the 
French  Revolution.  By  the  Author  of  Waverley. 

ARTICLE  X.     ENGLISH  FASHIONABLE  LIFE. 

Almack's. 

ARTICLE  XI.     SYMMES'S  THEORY. 

Symmes's  Theory  of  Concentric  Spheres?  demonstrating  that  the  Earth 
is  hollow,  habitable  within,  and  widely  open  about  the  Poles.  By  a 
Citizen  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  XII.     GREEK  CONTROVERSY. 

A  Narrative  of  the  material  Facts  in  relation  to  the  building  of  the  two 

Greek  Frigates.     By  Alexandre  Contostavlos. 
Report  of  the  Evidence  and  Reasons  of  the  Award  between  Johannis 

Orlandos  and  Andreas  Luriottis,  Greek  Deputies,  of  the  one  part, 

and  Le  Roy,  Bayard,  &  Co.  and  G.  G.  &  S.  Rowland,  of  the  other 

part.     By  the  A'rbitrators. 

ARTICLE  XIII.     SOUVENIRS. 

Forget  Me  Not ;  a  Christmas  and  New-Year's  Present. 

The  Amulet. 

The  Literary  Souvenir;  or,  Cabinet  of  Poetry  and  Romance. 

Friendship's  Offering. 

The  Atlantic  Souvenir;  a  Christmas  and  New-Year's  Present. 

The  Memorial. 

This  work  will  be  published  on  the  first  of  March,  June> 
September,  and  December.    Price,  five  dollars  per  annum. 


ALSO, 

THE  TENTH  VOLUME 

OF 

REPORTS  OF  CASES 

DECIDED    IN    THE 

ENGLISH  COURTS  OF  COMMON  LAW: 

EDITED    BY 

THOMAS  SERGEANT  AND  JOHN  C.  LOWBER,  ESQ.RS. 
OP  THE  PHILADELPHIA  BAR. 

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published,  and  contain  the  Reports  of  Taunton,  Marshall,  Moore,  Star- 
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OF    THE 

MEDICAL  AND  PHYSICAL  SCIENCES. 

Edited  by  N.  CHAPSIAK,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Institutes  and  Practice  o^ 
Physic  and  Clinical  Practice  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania ;  W.  P.  DEWEES, 
M.  D.  Adjunct  Professor  of  Midwifery  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania;  JOHN 
D.  GODMAK,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology  in  Rutgers  Medical 
College,  New-York ;  No.  26,  for  February,  1827. 

Contents  of  No.  26,  far  February,  1827. 

1.  Observations  on  Inflammation  of  the  Sclerotica.  By  Isaac  Hays,  M.  D.  one 
of  the  Surgeons  of  the  Pennsylvania  Infirmary  for  Diseases  of  the  Eye  and  Ear. — 
2.  The  Doctrine  of  Irritation.  By  Samuel  Jackson,  M.  D. — 3.  Remarks  on  Infan 
ticide.  By  R.  E.  Griffith,  M.  D. — 4*.  On  the  connection  of  other  departments  of 
science  with  Medicine,  embracing  an  investigation  of  their  influence  on  the  exist 
ing  doctrines  in  regard  to  the  modus  operandi  of  medicines.  By  William  H.  Shaw, 
M.  D.  of  Raleigh,  N.  C. — 5.  Observations  on  Monstrosities.  By  -fames  M.  Pen- 
dleton,  M.  D.  Lecturer  on  Midwifery  and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children. — 6. 
Thoughts  on  the  Pathology  and  Treatment  of  Hydrocephalus.  By  N.  Chapman, 
M.  D. — Cases.  7.  An  extraordinary  Case  of  Aneurism  of  the  Aorta.  By  Andrew 
Comstock,  M.  D.  of  Philadelphia.  [With  a  plate.] — 8.  Three  Cases  of  Haemor 
rhage  from  the  Urethra,  with  Remarks.  By  George  F.  Lehman,  M.  D. — Reviews. 
9.  Observations  on  the  use  of  Colchicum  autumnale  in  the  treatment  of  Gout ; 
and  on  the  proper  means  of  preventing  the  recurrence  of  that  disorder.  By  Charles 
Scudamore,  M.  D.  F.  R.  S.  Member,  &c.— 10.  A  Treatise  on  the  Diseases  of 
Females.  By  William  P.  Dewees,  M.  D.  Adjunct  Professor  of  Midwifery  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  &c.  &c. — Quarterly  Periscope. — European  Intelligence. 
— Jlnatomy,  1.  Cases  of  Preternatural  Apertures,  by  James  Syrn,  Surgeon,  Kil- 
marnock. — 2.  Thymus  Gland. — 3.  Foetus  in  Foetu. — Physiology,  4.  Case  of  a 
Lady  born  Blind,  who  received  Sight  at  an  advanced  age,  by  the  formation  of  an 
Artificial  Pupil,  by  James  Wardrop,  Esq.  F.  R.  S.  E.  &c.  &c. — 5.  Functions  of 
the  Spleen. — 6.  Experiments  on  the  Process  of  Digestion,  in  a  Boy  with  a  Fistu- 
lous  opening  into  his  Stomach,  by  Dr.  William  Beaumont. — 7.  Experiments 
upon  the  Effects  of  Compression  in  poisoned  wounds. — 8.  Experiments  upon  Pul 
monary  Exhalation. — Pathology.  9.  Haemorrhage  from  the  Ovarium. — 10.  Obser 
vations  on  a  case  of  Chronic  Dyspnoea,  by  Mr.  Andral,  fils. — 11.  Gastralgia  mis 
taken  for  Gastritis,  by  Dr.  Barras. — Materia  Medico.  12.  Sir  Anthony  Carlisle's 
new  Blistering  Instrument. — 13.  Extract  of  Garden  Lettuce. — Therapeutics.  14. 
Treatment  of  Syphilis  without  Mercury. — 15.  Treatment  of  the  Bite  of  the  Viper. — 
16.  Chloruret  of  Lime  in  burns. — Ophthalmology.  17.  Account  of  the  Exanthe- 
matous  Ophthalmia,  with  observations  on  its  Treatment,  by  James  Wardrop,  Esq. — 
18.  On  the  Effects  of  Hyosciamine  and  Atropia,  by  Dr.  F.  Reisinger. — 19.  Mor 
bid  Sensibility  of  the  Retina. — 20.  Practical  Observations  on  Catarrhal  Ophthal 
mia,  and  on  the  Contagious  Ophthalmia  to  which  it  gives  rise,  with  cases,  by 
William  Makenzie. — Surgery.  21.  Case  of  Hydrocephalus,  successfully  treated 
by  the  removal  of  the  water  by  operation,  by  James  Vose,  M.  D. — 22.  Mr.  Ward- 
rop's  Case  of  Carotid  Aneurism. — 23.  Lithontriptic  Process. — 24.  Case  of  Wound 
of  the  Heart. — Midwifery.  25.  Vagitus  Uterinus. — 26.  Discharge  of  a  Foetus 
through  an  abscess  in  the  Umbilical  Region. — 27.  Uterine  Haemorrhage. — Medical 
Jurisprudence.  28.  Case  of  Poisoning  by  Nitric  Acid. — 29.  Poisoning  from  Putrid 
Food. — 30.  Powdered  Glass  as  a  Poison. — 31.  Tests  of  Acetate  of  Morphium. — 
American  Intelligence.  Observations  on  Neuralgia,  with  cases,  by  J.  Trenor,  M.  D. 
&c.  La  Roche  on  the  use  of  Balsam  Copaiba  in  Chronic  Bronchitis.  Dr.  Morris's 
Cases  of  Fever,  illustrating  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  the  application  of 
leeches  to  the  epigastrium.  Case  of  Blindness,  by  Dr.  William  Church. 

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AMERICA: 


OK 


A   GENERAL    SURVEY 


OF    THI 


POLITICAL  SITUATION  OF  THE   SEVERAL  POWERS 


WESTERN  CONTINENT, 


WITH    CONJECTURES    ON    THEIR    FUTURE    PROSPECTS. 


Matre  pulchra  filia  pulchrior. 

BY  A  CITIZEN  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

AUTHOR  OF  "EUROPE,"  &c. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

H.   C.  CAREY    &   I.   LEA,  CHESNUT  STREET. 

1827. 


•v 


Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania^  to  wit: 

*********      BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  that  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of 

*  SEAL.  J  March,  in  the  fifty-first  year  of  the  independence  of  the  United 

*******»!  States  of  America,  A.  D.  1827,  H.  C.  Carey  &  I.  Lea,  of  the 

said  district,  have  deposited  in  this  office  the  title  of  a  book,  the  right 

whereof  they  claim  as  Proprietors,  in  the  words  following1,  to  wit : 

"  America  :  or  a  General  Survey  of  the  Political  Situation  of  the  Several 
Powers  of  the  Western  Continent,  with  Conjectures  on  their  Future  Pros 
pects.  Matre  pulchra  filia  pulchrior.  By  a  Citizen  of  the  United  States, 
Author  of  "  Europe,"  &c." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  intituled, 
"  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of 
maps,  charts,  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  dur 
ing  the  times  therein  mentioned."  And  also  to  the  act,  entitled,  "  An  act 
supplementary  to  an  act,  entitled,  '  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learn 
ing,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books,  to  the  authors  and 
proprietors  of  such  copies  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,'  and  ex 
tending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and  etch 
ing  historical  and  other  prints." 

D.  CALDWELL, 
Clerk  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


MIPPLIN    AND    PARRY,  PRINTERS. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

Position  of  America  and  of  the  United  States  in  the 

general  Political  System.      -  9 

CHAPTER  II. 

Brief  Review  of  the  Principal  Events  of  the  last  Five 

Years.  30 

CHAPTER  III. 

United  States  of  America. — Form  and  Spirit  of  their 

Political  Institutions.  68 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  United  States  of  America. — Internal  Situation  and 

Policy.  122 

CHAPTER  V. 

Spanish    America. — Political    Condition   of  the   New 

States.  167 

CHAPTER  VI. 

European  Colonies  in  America.  208 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Foreign  Policy  of  the  two  Americas.  226 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

International  Relations  of  the  two  Americas. — Congress 

of  Panama.  268 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Death  of  Messrs.  Adams  and  Jefferson.  298 

CHAPTER  X. 

Conclusion. — Prospects  of  the  Future  Situation  of  Ame 
rica,  and  its  Influence  on  the  Fortunes  of  the 
World.  -----  33-1 


AMERICA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Position  of  America  and  of  the  United  States  in  the 
general  Political  System. 

IT  has  sometimes  been  suggested,  that  the  United 
States  ought  to  be  considered  as  forming  of  themselves 
a  political  system,  entirely  distinct  and  separate  from 
every  other.  The  opinion  expressed  by  Washington, 
in  his  farewell  address,  upon  the  subject  of  our  foreign 
relations,  has  been  thought  to  favour  this  idea;  and  it 
has  also  been  apparently  countenanced  by  other  autho 
rities  of  great  and  just  consideration.  But  the  general 
remarks  of  this  kind,  that  have  been  occasionally  thrown 
out,  must  be  taken  in  connexion  with  the  circumstances 
of  the  time  when  they  were  made,  and  with  the  cha 
racter  of  the  particular  measures  to  which  they  had 
immediate  reference.  They  must  be  understood  to 
intimate,  that  we  should  avoid  unnecessary  interference 
in  the  public  affairs  of  other  countries;  and  that  on  ac 
count  of  our  distance  from  Europe,  the  necessity  of 
such  interference  would  occur  less  frequently  to  us 
than  to  almost  any  other  people.  A  complete  separa- 

2 


10 

tion  of  our  political  interests  from  those  of  all  other 
countries  could  only  be  eifected,  by  a  complete  absti 
nence  from  all  intercourse  with  them;  a  plan  which  it 
would  be  extremely  difficult  to  realise,  which  would  be 
highly  impolitic  if  practicable,  and  which  has  never 
been  avowed  nor  defended  by  any  one.  All  individual 
and  personal  intercourse  between  the  members  of  dif 
ferent  bodies  politic  carries  with  it  political  relations,  to 
a  certain  extent;  and  no  two  nations  which  have  any 
communication  at  all  with  each  other,  can  be  looked 
upon  as  completely  independent  and  unconnected. 
Where  community  of  origin,  language,  religion,  laws 
and  habits,  produces  continual  and  very  intimate  per 
sonal  relations  between  the  members  of  two  or  more 
communities,  their  national  connexion  becomes  of  ne 
cessity  proportionably  close,  and  they  are  said  to  con 
stitute  a  political  system.  Each  of  the  individual  pow 
ers  composing  such  a  system,  being  independent  of  the 
rest  in  form,  exercises  a  sovereign  will  in  regulating 
its  relations  with  them;  but  it  is  not  in  the  power  of 
any  one  to  dissolve  its  connexion  with  the  system,  ex 
cept  as  I  have  intimated  above,  by  entirely  prohibiting 
all  individual  intercourse  with  the  other  members;  and 
even  this  would  be  only  the  establishment  of  one  rela 
tion  instead  of  another,  and  would  leave  the  system  as 
it  stood  before.  The  question,  which  of  these  relations 
would  be  more  expedient,  must  be  determined,  in  eve 
ry  case,  by  a  just  application  of  the  principles  of  policy 
and  duty  to  the  particular  circumstances  of  the  time 
being,  and  not  by  any  fixed  ideas  of  a  general  kind :  for 
prudence  requires  on  the  one  hand  that  a  nation  should 


if 

avoid  entangling  itself  without  necessity  in  the  quarrels 
and  concerns  of  its  neighbours,  and  other  considera 
tions  of  interest  and  humanity  make  it  proper  to  culti 
vate  and  encourage  a  good  understanding  and  a  friendly 
intercourse  with  all.  A  wise  statesman  will  therefore 
regulate  his  conduct  by  a  proper  reference  to  both  these 
rules,  and  by  a  careful  notice  of  the  signs  of  the  times, 
in  which  he  is  called  to  act.  As  respects  the  United 
States  in  particular,  their  history  sufficiently  proves, 
if  theory  were  wanting,  that  it  is  not  in  their  power 
to  separate  themselves  entirely  from  the  great  political 
system  of  Christendom,  with  which  they  are  naturally 
connected  by  community  of  origin.  It  becomes  there 
fore  of  high  importance  to  ascertain  precisely  the  na 
ture  of  this  connexion,  and  to  form  a  clear  idea  of  the 
position  of  this  country  and  of  America  in  general,  in 
reference  to  the  other  Christian  j|wers.  This  is  the 
point  which  I  propose  to  examine  m  the  present  chap 
ter. 

This  immense  political  system,  which  now  occupies 
so  large  a  part  of  the  earth's  surface,  which  extends 
from  Kamschatka  on  the  one  hand  to  Cape  Horn  on  the 
other,  comprehending  the  whole  of  Europe  and  Ame 
rica  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  two  other  conti 
nents  and  their  neighbouring  islands,  dates  from  about 
fifteen  hundred  years  ago,  having  grown  out  of  the 
establishments  formed  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Roman 
empire  by  its  barbarous  invaders.  The  several  tribes, 
into  which  these  rude  sons  of  the  north  were  divided, 
assumed  in  the  first  instance  a  complete  sovereignty 
over  the  provinces  which  they  respectively  conquered. 


12 

The  territory  of  the  empire  was  thus  parcelled  out  into 
a  thousand  petty  states,  engaged  in  perpetual  wars  with 
each  other, — often  unsettled  in  their  turn  by  the  inroads 
of  new  swarms  from  the  old  mother  hive,  and  forming 
on  the  whole  a  real  chaos  rather  than  a  system.  In  the 
course  of  twp  or  three  centuries,  however,  these  origi 
nally  independent  settlements  were  gradually  consoli 
dated, — for  the  most  part  in  conformity  with  certain 
great  geographical  lines  of  demarcation, — into  a  smaller 
number  of  considerable  nations,  separate  in  form,  but 
closely  connected  by  every  other  possible  bond  of  union, 
and  constituting  what  has  often  been  called  the  Euro 
pean  commonwealth.  Of  the  larger  states,  that  enter 
ed  into  the  composition  of  this  system,  no  one  was  suffi 
ciently  powerful  to  stand  its  ground  permanently  against 
a  combination  of  the  rest,  or  to  acquire  a  decided  supe 
riority  over  the  wjAle.  The  mutual  jealousy  of  the 
great  states  afforderi  security  to  the  smaller,  and  the 
balance  of  power.,  thus  established,  furnished  a  sort  of 
rude  substitute  for  a  common  government,  and  enforced 
upon  all,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  observance  of  the  rules 
of  equity  and  justice.  This  state  of  things  continued, 
without  any  very  material  or  permanent  alteration  in 
the  relative  power  of  the  several  nations,  until  the  mid 
dle  of  the  last  century.  All,  as  they  advanced  in  civi 
lization,  gradually  increased  in  wealth  and  power,  but 
preserved  nearly  the  same  comparative  importance. 
France  was  on  the  whole  the  leading  state,  and  threat 
ened  at  times  the  independence  of  the  others ;  but  the 
predominance  she  acquired  was  never  permanent,  and 
was  generally  succeeded  by  a  period  of  proportional 


13 

weakness  and  exhaustion.  Charlemagne  united  a  great 
part  of  Europe  under  his  government,  but  his  empire 
fell  to  pieces  upon  his  death,  and  France  remained  for 
two  or  three  centuries  after  in  a  very  feeble  and  dis 
tracted  state.  From  that  time,  until  the  reformation, 
the  power  which  really  exercised  the  greatest  influence 
was  the  see  of  Rome ;  and  Europe  may  be  said  to  have 
been,  during  this  interval  of  four  or  five  centuries,  a 
sort  of  irregular  theocracy.  The  reformation,  which 
commenced  by  the  preaching  of  a  monk  against  the 
sale  of  indulgences,  gradually  assumed  the  form  of  a 
revolt  of  the  military  chiefs  or  kings,  against  the  su 
preme  ecclesiastical  head,  and  finished  by  subverting 
the  supremacy  of  the  church  in  form  over  half  of  these 
chiefs,  and  in  fact  over  all.  Their  relative  power  still 
remained  in  substance  as  before,  and  so  continued,  until 
the  extension  of  the  system  beyond  the  limits  of  Europe 
effected  a  complete  change  in  its*  character,  or  rather 
may  be  said  to  have  substituted  an  entirely  new  one  in 
place  of  the  former.  This  revolution,  as  may  well  be 
supposed  from  the  immense  magnitude  of  the  interests 
affected  by  it,  was  long  in  preparation,  and  very  slow 
in  its  development.  It  is  only,  indeed,  within  a  very 
few  years,  that  its  final  results  have  become  completely 
manifest. 

The  discovery  and  colonization  of  America  and  the 
East  Indies,  and  the  conquest  of  the  whole  north  of  Asia 
by  Russia,  which  took  place  about  the  same  time,  pre 
pared  the  way  for  the  introduction  into  the  European 
system  of  new  elements,  capable  of  beqoming  after  a 
while  much  superior  in  weight  and  importance  to  the 


14 

original  mass.  While  the  system  was  thus  extended  as 
it  were  over  the  whole  face  of  the  globe,  and  acquired  as 
such  a  prodigious  accession  of  positive  power,  it  is  evi 
dent  that  the  relative  influence  of  the  several  states 
must  have  been  of  necessity,  as  it  was,  completely 
altered.  Had  the  new  elements  been  distributed 
among  these  states,  in  exact  proportion  to  their  former 
weight,  the  old  balance  of  power  might  indeed  have 
been  preserved;  but  this  was  hardly  possible  in  the 
nature  of  things,  and  at  any  rate  did  not  happen. 
France  and  Austria,  on  the  whole  the  two  leading 
powers  in  the  former  system,  failed  in  securing  any 
share  of  the  distribution  of  this  vast  treasure  trove  of 
new  continents;  and  consequently,  although  rapidly  ad 
vancing  in  wealth  and  greatness,  were  doomed  to  suffer 
a  gradual  and  constantly  progressive  decline  of  their 
comparative  weight^and  general  political  influence. 
This  decline  was  imerrupted  for  a  short  time,  as  re 
spects  France,  by  the  episode  of  the  revolution,  but 
has  now  resumed  its  course  and  will  continue  to  proceed 
with  accelerated  rapidity.  On  the  other  hand,  England. 
Holland,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  by  dividing  among  them 
selves  these  princely  spoils,  rose  at  once, — the  three 
first  at  least,  from  the  rank  of  secondary  to  that  of  first 
rate  powers.  Spain  for  a  time  took  the  place  of  France 
and  Austria  as  the  leading  European  state ;  and  being 
in  other  respects  aided  by  circumstances,  conquered 
Portugal,  invaded  France,  threatened  England,  and 
made  in  short  a  very  near  approach  to  universal  empire. 
With  a  better  domestic  system  this  preponderance  might 
Jong  have  been  maintained,  but  in  consequence  of  gross 


15 

misgovernment  it  soon  passed  away.  After  this,  Hol 
land,  before  a  subject  province,  figured  for  a  while  as  a 
leading  power.  England  under  the  same  circumstances 
assumed  the  same  position,  and  of  all  the  European 
powers  is  the  one  which  has  turned  this  revolution  in 
the  system  to  the  best  account.  But  in  her  case,  as  in 
that  of  the  others,  the  accession  of  power  acquired  in 
this  way  was  naturally  transitory ;  because  the  colonies, 
separated  as  they  were  by  immense  distances  and  inter 
vening  oceans  from  the  ruling  state,  had  a  natural  ten 
dency  to  fall  off  after  a  certain  time  and  become  inde 
pendent.  This  consummation,  of  which  our  own  revo 
lution  was  the  first  great  act,  which  is  now  proceeding 
in  Spanish  America,  and  will  ultimately  be  completed 
by  the  emancipation  of  the  remaining  British  colonies, 
exhibits  the  final  development,  in  one  of  its  great 
branches,  of  the  revolution  in  the  old  European  politi 
cal  system,  or  rather  of  the  formation  of  a  new  one,  to 
which  I  alluded  above.  In  this  way  the  European 
states,  which  had  risen  into  temporary  importance  by 
the  acquisition  of  colonies,  were  destined  to  return 
again  to  their  former  station.  Spain,  Portugal,  and 
Holland,  have  already  resumed  their  rank  as  inferior 
powers ;  and  England,  when  she  shall  have  lost  entirely 
her  colonial  empire,  must  consent,  however  unwillingly, 
to  do  the  same.  Meanwhile  the  emancipation  of  Ame 
rica  has  added  to  the  old  family  a  cluster  of  new  mem 
bers,  not  inferior  in  number,  nor  (considering  their  im 
mediate  prospects)  in  importance,  to  the  former  ones; 
and  this  creation  is  the  first  remarkable  point  in  the  new 
political  system. 


16 

Another  important  feature  in  this  system  was  the 
result  of  the  conquest  of  the  north  of  Asia  by  Russia, 
and  of  circumstances  occurring  within  the  interior  of 
that  empire,  which  favoured  in  a  very  extraordinary 
manner,  its  progress  in  power  and  civilization.  While 
the  western  and  maritime  states  were  appropriating  to 
themselves  the  boundless  regions  of  the  new  world,  the 
Czars  of  Russia  were  stretching  their  jurisdiction  over 
equally  extensive  territories,  which  being  contiguous 
to  their  former  possessions,  were  not  liable  to  fall  off, 
like  the  new  acquisitions  of  the  others,  after  a  lapse  of 
two  or  three  centuries.  Having  succeeded  about  the 
same  time,  by  favour  of  an  almost  miraculous  concur 
rence  of  events,  in  forming  a  consolidated  and  vigorous 
body  politic,  out  of  the  heterogeneous  and  before  discord 
ant  materials  of  which  this  empire  is  composed ;  having 
finally,  by  a  singular  effort  of  genius,  raised  their  sub 
jects,  in  point  of  civilization,  to  a  level  with  the  rest  of 
Europe,  these  princes,  hitherto  unknown  and  unheard 
of  in  the  general  system,  now  took  their  places,  not  so 
much  in  it  as  over  it.  Russia  became  at  once  not  merely 
a  leading,  but  in  substance  and  effect  the  ruling  state.  I 
have  dwelt,  on  a  former  occasion,  upon  the  position  and 
influence  of  this  immense  power,  and  need  not  there 
fore  now  enlarge  upon  the  subject.  A  glance  at  the 
map  of  the  world  is  sufficient  to  show,  independently  of 
any  other  argument,  how  completely  the  west  of  Europe 
is  crushed,  beneath  the  giant  mass  of  this  political  Co 
lossus.  The  whole  course  of  history  for  a  century  past, 
beginning  with  the  reign  of  Peter  the  Great,  and  end 
ing  with  the  recent  irj/asion  of  Spain,  demonstrates  the 


17 

same  important  truth.  The  continental  states  that 
figured  as  leading  powers  in  the  former  system,  such  as 
France,  Austria,  and  latterly  Prussia,  have  lost,  by  the 
introduction  of  this  new  and  overwhelming  rival,  not 
only  their  rank  but  virtually  their  independence.  This 
feature  of  the  new  system  has  not  yet  assumed  its  perfect 
form;  but  the  natural  termination  of  the  progress  of 
events,  which  is  now  going  on,  will  be  the  union  of  the 
whole  continent  into  one  military  monarchy.  Great  Bri 
tain,  while  she  preserves  her  colonial  empire,  will  main 
tain  her  independence  at  home,  and  her  rank  as  a  first 
rate  power ;  but  when  she  loses  her  foreign  possessions, 
and  the  sceptre  of  the  ocean  which  will  go  with  them, 
she  must  also  lose  her  importance,  and  sink  into  a  de 
pendency  of  the  neighbouring  continent.  Meanwhile 
the  great  political  system,  to  which  our  country  and  con 
tinent  belong,  exhibits  at  present  the  three  following 
principal  elements : 

1 .  The  Continent  of  Europe  with  its  dependencies  in 
other  parts  of  the  world. 

2.  The  British  Empire. 

3.  America. 

Each  of  these  great  divisions  of  the  general  system, 
comprehends  one  predominant  power,  and  a  number  of 
others  connected  with  it  in  a  secondary  order ;  and  in 
every  case  on  different  principles.  As  respects  the  Bri 
tish  empire,  the  multifarious  and  innumerable  sections 
that  compose  it,  scattered  over  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  comprehending  immense  and  unexplored  regions 
in  America,  a  hundred  kingdoms  in  Asia  and  Africa,  a 
whole  continent  in  the  south  sea,  and  nearly  all  the 

3 


18 

islands  in  that  and  every  other,  (for  Great  Britain  seems 
to  claim  a  monopoly  of  islands,)  are  subject  in  form  to  the 
little  ruling  cluster  on  the  northwest  coast  of  Europe.  In 
this  division  of  the  system,  the  subordination  of  the  other 
members  to  the  leading  power,  is  therefore  for  the  time 
complete ;  but  as  the  connexion  is  not  founded  on  any 
common  principles  of  either  right  or  policy,  or  even 
permanent  and  lasting  power,  it  must  be  considered  as 
in  its  nature  accidental  and  transitory.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  nations  that  occupy  the  continent  of  Europe, 
though  in  form  independent,  are  subject  to  the  influence 
of  Russia,  which,  as  I  have  just  stated,  exercises  over 
them  a  decided  predominance.  This  predominance 
being  founded  in  a  superiority  of  physical  force  likely 
to  be  durable,  must  also  be  expected  to  continue,  and 
indeed  to  display  itself  more  and  more  from  year  to 
year,  until  it  brings  about  the  consummation  alluded  to 
above.  Finally,  OUT  own  country  enjoys  the  proud  dis 
tinction  of  taking  the  lead  in  the  great  division  composed 
of  the  various  new  nations  that  cover  this  continent — a 
lead  not  assumed  in  arrogance  and  maintained  by  force, 
but  resulting  in  the  course  of  nature  from  priority  of 
national  existence,  and  secured  by  continual  good  offices 
done,  and  to  be  done,  to  our  sister  republics.  This  con 
nexion  too  being  founded  on  the  just  and  liberal  prin 
ciples  of  policy  common  to  all  the  different  parties,  and 
which  we  may  justly  expect  will  long  continue  to  be  so, 
may  be  regarded  as  permanent,  and,  we  may  hope  at 
least,  perpetual.  Russia,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United 
States,  are  therefore  now  the  three  prominent  and  first 
rate  powers  of  the  civilized  and  Christian  world.  All 


19 

die  rest  stand  at  present,  in  an  order  secondary  to  one  or 
the  other  of  these.  Some  of  the  secondary  powers  of 
the  two  great  European  divisions,  such  as  France,  Aus 
tria,  and  even  Turkey,  are  at  present  superior  in  popu 
lation,  and  in  disposable  military  and  naval  force,  to  the 
United  States,  and  would  doubtless  consider  it  a  signal 
piece  of  presumption  in  us,  to  claim  in  any  respect  a 
higher  political  importance.  These  celebrated  empires, 
I  mean  the  two  first  of  the  three  just  mentioned,  in  the 
pride  of  their  antiquity,  and  of  the  brilliant  part  which 
they  have  constantly  acted  on  the  theatre  of  Europe, 
can  hardly  realize  at  once  the  effect  of  the  new  circum 
stances,  which,  without  diminishing  their  actual  power, 
have  deprived  them  of  a  great  part  of  their  comparative 
weight  among  the  nations ;  and  they  are  rather  disposed 
to  underrate  the  pretensions  of  a  new  country,  which 
emerged  as  it  were  only  fifty  years  ago,  from  a  continent 
that  has  been  known  to  Europe  but  little  more  than 
three  centuries.  However  natural  such  feelings  may  be 
with  them,  it  is  nevertheless  certain,  that  it  is  not  mere 
ly  extent  of  population,  and  of  organized  military  force, 
still  less  the  date  of  its  establishment,  that  determines 
the  political  importance  of  a  country  in  the  world.  A 
favourable  geographical  position,  and  a  good  govern 
ment,  with  the  industry,  wealth,  and  knowledge,  the  ci 
vilization,  in  a  word,  which  naturally  attend  them,  are 
matters  of  much  more  consequence.  These  are  the 
causes  which  have  given  to  the  United  States,  at  this 
early  period  of  their  national  existence,  the  lofty  posi 
tion  of  a  leading  power  among  the  nations ;  and,  how 
ever  the  fact  may  now  be  doubted  or  disputed  by  some, 


20 

it  will  become  in  a  very  short  time  as  evident  to  all,  as 
it  is  at  present  to  those  who  examine  with  unprejudiced 
minds,  the  situation  of  the  world. 

Such  then  is  the  position  of  America  and  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  general  political  system,  and 
such  is  now  the  aspect  presented  by  that  system,  upon 
a  large  and  comprehensive  survey.  It  also  happens, 
by  a  somewhat  singular  coincidence,  that  the  great  di 
visions  which  I  have  pointed  out,  exhibit  at  the  same 
time  a  grand  exemplification  of  each  of  the  three  prin 
cipal  forms  of  political  institutions.  No  specimens  of 
either  of  these  forms  have  been  held  up  to  the  world 
before,  on  any  thing  like  so  large  a  scale,  in  an  equal 
degree  of  perfection.  The  United  States  are  admitted 
by  all  to  furnish  the  most  finished  model  of  a  popular 
government  that  has  yet  been  seen  ;  and  they  afford 
indeed  the  first  instance,  in  which  purely  popular  in 
stitutions  have  ever  existed  tranquilly  for  any  length  of 
time  in  a  great  community.  The  British  constitution, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  undoubtedly  the  most  favourable 
specimen  that  has  ever  been  exhibited  of  the  mixed  or 
intermediate  system  of  government;  while  the  Russian 
empire,  although  the  aspect  of  its  administration  varies 
very  much,  like  that  of  all  despotic  states,  with  the 
changes  in  the  person  of  the  despot,  has  displayed  on 
the  whole,  since  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great,  one  of 
the  best  examples,  as  it  certainly  has  the  most  imposing 
and  remarkable  one  ever  known,  of  the  worst  descrip 
tion  of  political  institutions.  Here  then  we  have  a 
vast  and  splendid  panorama,  in  which  those  persons 
whose  attention  is  directed  by  curiosity  or  habitual 


21 

pursuits  to  the  science  of  politics,  may  study  the  prac 
tical  operation  of  the  three  great  systems,  developing 
themselves  under  every  possible  advantage  and  on  the 
most  extensive  scale.  Such  a  spectacle  is  surely  well 
fitted  to  attract  the  observation  of  all  those,  who  feel  an 
interest  in  the  fortunes  of  the  human  race,  and  have 
duly  considered  the  permanent  influence  of  political 
institutions  upon  their  condition  and  happiness. 

If  the  object  were  merely  to  settle,  in  the  minds  of 
the  impartial  inquirers,  the  question  of  the  compara 
tive  advantages  of  liberal  and  arbitrary  governments, 
it  would  perhaps  be  quite  sufficient  to  survey,  however 
superficially,  the  present  situation  of  these  different 
sections  of  the  Christian  world,  especially  of  the  con 
tinents  of  Europe  and  America,  in  which  the  two  forms 
present  themselves  respectively  in  a  pure  and  simple 
shape.  Under  the  operation  of  the  liberal  system,  we 
see  throughout  America  an  exhibition  of  prosperity, 
national  and  individual,  such  as  probably  the  world 
never  witnessed  before  upon  the  same  scale;  a  substan 
tial  equality  of  property  and  of  personal  and  political 
rights,  a  high  degree  of  intellectual  and  moral  activity 
pervading  and  animating  the  whole  mass  of  society,  a 
general  diffusion  of  the  material  comforts  of  life,  of 
knowledge  and  virtue,  and,  as  a  necessary  consequence, 
of  happiness;  an  increase  of  population  and  a  progress 
of  improvement,  unheard  of,  unthought  of,  in  any  for 
mer  age  or  region;  gigantic  enterprises  in  the  way  of 
internal  development  and  foreign  commerce,  of  which 
monarchs  never  dreamed,  conceived  and  executed  by 
states  and  individuals;  tens  of  millions  of  busy,  proud, 


and  wealthy  men,  governed  and  defended  almost  with 
out  either  armies  or  taxes;  and  finally,  as  if  in  mockery 
of  the  idle  fears  and  vain  pretences  of  the  adversaries 
of  this  system,  the  whole  movement  going  on  in  unin 
terrupted  tranquillity,  while  at  the  same  time  the  em 
pires  which  are  ruled  upon  the  opposite  principles, 
and  whose  professed  object,  and  only  supposed  advan 
tage,  is  tranquillity,  are  constantly  convulsed  with  revo 
lutions,  and  given  up  for  ever  to  the  standing  curses  of 
foreign  and  domestic  war. 

The  despotic  system,  as  exemplified  on  the  continent 
of  Europe,  presents  us  with  a  picture  in  every  respect 
precisely  the  reverse  of  this.  We  there  see  a  few  in 
dividuals  in  each  separate  state  monopolizing  all  the 
property,  and  enjoying  exclusively  the  material  com 
forts  of  life,  somewhat  happier  of  course,  but,  from  the 
vice  of  their  position,  not  much  wiser  or  better  than  their 
fellow  citizens;  the  mass  of  the  community  poor,  abject, 
and  wretched;  no  intellectual  or  physical  activity;  no  gen 
erous  expansion  of  social  feeling;  no  circulation  of  thought 
or  diffusion  of  knowledge;  no  virtues  but  those  of  in 
stinct,  and  all  the  vices  which  ignorance  and  misery  con 
stantly  engender;  wealth  and  population  declining,  or  at 
best  stationary;  the  useful  and  liberal  arts  at  a  stand;  ma 
nifest  improvement,  familiar  in  more  favoured  regions, 
rejected  and  prohibited;  loathsome  and  inveterate  abuses 
in  morals  and  politics  retained  and  cherished,  with  a  sort 
of  affectation;  we  see,  in  short,  in  consequence  of  the 
very  peculiar  situation  of  these  nations,  the  spectacle, 
altogether  new  I  believe  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
of  a  number  of  cotemporary  governments  voluntarily 


23 

shutting  their  eyes  upon  the  lights  of  the  age  in  which 
they  live;  spurning  in  practice,  at  truths  which  they 
cannot  dispute  in  theory,  and  regulating  their  public 
conduct  agreeably  to  known  and  acknowledged  errors. 
Such  is  the  singular  condition  of  the  vast  communities 
professing  the  Greek  and  Catholic  religions,  which  oc 
cupy  so  extensive  a  portion  of  the  ancient  continent, 
and  whose  policy,  as  I  have  already  stated,  is  now  pre 
ponderant  through  the  whole  of  it,  and  unresisted  ex 
cept  by  the  vain  wishes  and  stifled  complaints  of  a  few 
individuals.  It  may  be  proper,  however,  to  add  that 
the  Protestant  countries,  and  also,  to  a  certain  extent. 
France  and  some  parts  of  Catholic  Germany,  though 
moving  in  our  order  secondary  to  the  great  military 
power  of  the  continent,  are  yet  governed,  as  respects 
internal  affairs,  on  a  better  system,  commonly  called 
the  mixed  or  intermediate  one,  and  which  is  also  es 
tablished  in  the  British  empire,  or  at  least  that  part  of 
it  (not  by  any  means  the  largest)  which  is  subject  to 
the  British  constitution. 

This  intermediate  system  exhibits  the  principle  of 
liberty  and  that  of  despotism  or  arbitrary  power* 
co-operating  together,  or  rather  contending  for  the 
mastery,  within  the  compass  of  the  same  body  politic. 
Institutions  of  this  description  have  found,  like  those 
of  despotism,  their  apologists  and  even  their  admirers : 
and  have  sometimes  been  extolled  by  men  of  high  dis 
cernment,  under  the  name  of  mixed  governments,  as 
the  most  finished  products  of  political  wisdom.  In 
reality,  however,  although  they  argue  a  better  state  of 
society  than  that  which  exists  of  necessity  in  despotic 


24 

governments?  they  may  perhaps,  when  considered  in 
the  abstract?  be  fairly  ranked  as  inferior  to  both  the 
simple  forms;  or?  to  speak  more  properly?  they  should 
be  described?  not  as  a  distinct  class  of  governments? 
having  a  separate  principle  of  their  own?  but  as  a  sort 
of  transition  or  passage  from  one  of  the  simple  forms  of 
government  to  the  other.  This  is  the  light?  under 
which  they  are  now  viewed  by  some  of  the  most  intel 
ligent  European  writers?  as  for  example  M.  de  Cha 
teaubriand  ;  and  we  find  in  fact?  that?  in  all  the  coun 
tries  in  which  we  see  them  established?  they  have  been 
the  effect  of  accidental  circumstances?  which  have 
planted  the  seeds  of  liberty  and  encouraged  its  growth, 
in  a  soil  before  appropriated  to  despotism.  If  this 
notion  of  the  system  be  correct?  it  would  seem  that  it 
can  hardly  be  in  any  case  a  very  durable  one.  When 
the  new  occupant  becomes  strong  enough  to  display 
his  character?  a  struggle  must  ensue  between  the  two 
pretenders  to  the  mastery?  which?  though  it  may  en 
dure  for  a  considerable  period  of  time?  must  apparently 
terminate  in  the  complete  triumph  of  one  or  the  other. 
The  intervening  epoch  of  confusion  and  collision  is  the 
one?  through  which  the  constitutional  monarchies  of 
Europe  appear  to  be  now  passing ;  and  the  incongruous 
forms  of  legislation  and  administration?  naturally  pro 
duced  by  this  conflict  of  principles?  constitute?  at  least 
on  this  view  of  it?  the  Celebrated  system  of  mixed  go 
vernments. 

We  find  accordingly?  upon  examining  this  system  as 
exemplified  in  England?  the  only  country  where  it 
ever  grew  up  spontaneously?  and  where?  if  any  where. 


25 

it  must  be  supposed  to  exhibit  itself  in  its  natural  and 
proper  shape,  that  it  displays  a  combination  of  contra 
ries,  which  no  ingenuity  can  reconcile  in  theory  and 
no  art  or  skill  unite  in  harmonious  action.  We  find 
institutions  existing  together,  which  suppose  the  truth 
of  directly  opposite  principles,  and  which,  if  they  re 
tain  any  real  force,  must  lead  of  necessity  to  continual 
collision : — a  king  reigning  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  a 
parliament  claiming  and  exercising  the  right  of  depo 
sing  him  at  pleasure ; — an  established  church,  with  uni 
versal  liberty  of  conscience  and  worship ; — equality  of 
rights  and  hereditary  privileges; — boundless  prodi 
gality  in  the  public  expenses,  with  a  strict  accounta- 
bleness  of  all  the  agents ; — with  a  thousand  other  incon 
gruities  of  the  same  description.  The  administration 
of  these  countries  presents  in  fact  the  appearance, 
which  we  should  naturally  expect  from  the  view  here 
taken  of  their  political  forms.  We  see  in  their  pro 
ceedings  and  condition  something  of  the  favourable  in 
fluence  of  liberty,  and  something  of  the  ruinous  effect 
of  arbitrary  government;  but  their  most  remarkable 
and  distinctive  feature  is  a  continual  collision  between 
the  two  principles,  and  a  ceaseless  fluctuation  in  the 
public  measures,  as  one  or  the  other  predominates  in 
turn.  When  their  power  is  pretty  nearly  balanced, 
the  slightest  accident  is  sometimes  sufficient  to  deter 
mine  which  shall  have  the  temporary  prevalence.  In 
the  time  of  Queen  Anne,  the  scale  was  turned  in 
England  in  favour  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resis 
tance,  by  the  duchess  of  Marlborough's  gloves.  In 
our  own  day.  Lord  Castlereagh's  penknife  (more 

4 


26 

potent  than  his  pen)  settled  for  a  while  the  same  great 
question  in  a  different  manner.  And  yet  the  discord 
ance  that  takes  place  on  these  occasions  in  the  public 
measures  is  not  less  strongly  marked,  because  the  acci 
dent  that  leads  to  it  is  a  slight  one.  The  ill  humour 
of  the  duchess  of  Marlborough  occasioned  the  recall  of 
her  husband,  the  greatest  general  that  England  ever 
possessed,  from  the  head  of  his  army,  in  the  full  career 
of  victory,  and  when  another  campaign  would  have 
carried  him  to  Paris, — rescued  the  monarchy  of  France 
from  instant  destruction,  settled  the  succession  of  Spain, 
terminated  a  general  war  that  had  lasted  ten  years, 
and  decided  the  politics  of  Europe  for  half  a  century. 
The  second  of  the  changes  alluded  to  above,  was  not 
less  complete.  The  British  government  had  made  war, 
for  thirty  years  in  succession,  upon  the  principle  of 
liberty  exhibiting  itself  in  the  form  of  revolution.  A 
ministerial  movement  occurs,  produced  by  the  little  en 
gine  just  mentioned  ; — the  scene  immediately  changes, 
another  hand  takes  the  helm,  and  the  same  government 
has  now  for  several  years  been  lending  all  its  influence 
to  the  same  principle,  exhibiting  itself  in  a  different 
and  even  in  the  same  quarter  of  the  globe. — So  it  is  in 
other  nations,  whose  institutions  are  formed  upon  this 
model.  France  establishes  a  liberal  constitution  at 
home,  and  before  the  object  is  well  accomplished  de 
spatches  an  army  of  a  hundred  thousand  men,  to  put 
down  a  similar  constitution  in  a  neighbouring  territory. 
The  same  fluctuation  may  be  remarked  in  their  econo 
mical  systems.  At  one  time  the  order  of  the  day  is 
prohibition,  high  duties,  a  continual  intervention  of 


27 

the  government  in  private  concerns.  Anon,  without 
any  perceptible  change  of  circumstances,  the  favourite 
notions  are  liberty  of  commerce,  low  duties,  and  the 
laissezfaire  policy.  Another  natural  effect  of  the  con 
flict  of  principles,  that  forms  the  essence  of  this  mixed 
government,  is  the  existence  of  permanent  and  deep 
rooted  party  divisions.  Such  divisions  naturally  grow 
up  even  in  free  countries,  and  while  kept  within  certain 
limits  are  not  perhaps  injurious ;  but  in  these  mixed  sys 
tems,  where  the  nature  of  the  constitution  favours  or  ra 
ther  creates  them,  they  are  apt  to  assume  a  dangerous 
and  inveterate  shape.  They  ruined  the  republic  of 
Rome,  and  have  always  kept  up  in  England,  as  Montes 
quieu,  though  a  great  admirer  of  the  British  constitu 
tion,  remarks,  a  continual  conflagration  of  discord  and 
sedition. 

It  is  not  my  object,  however,  to  examine  at  present 
in  detail,  the  respective  merits  of  the  different  forms  of 
government,  but  merely  to  present  a  hasty  sketch  of 
the  internal  situation  of  the  three  great  divisions  of  the 
Christian  world,  for  the  purpose  of  completing  the  sur 
vey  which  I  have  taken  of  the  whole,  as  a  political  sys 
tem.  Reverting,  therefore,  to  the  general  conclusion  at 
which  I  arrived  before,  it  appears  that  the  ancient  com 
monwealth  of  Christendom,  which  was  formed  out  of  the 
broken  fragments  of  the  fallen  Roman  empire,  and  ex 
isted  within  the  same  limits  for  about  a  thousand  years, 
has  been  gradually  extending  itself  for  two  or  three 
centuries,  over  the  whole  habitable  globe,  and  has  ex 
perienced,  in  consequence,  a  revolution  hardly  less  vio 
lent,  and  certainly  much  more  remarkable,  than  that 


28 

which  caused  its  foundation ;  that,  in  the  course  of  this 
process,  the  old  political  landmarks  have  been  broken 
up,  as  the  physical  divisions  of  the  globe  are  subverted 
by  a  general  inundation ;  that  some  great  powers  have 
disappeared  entirely,  others  sprung  into  being  as  if  by 
enchantment,  and  all  assumed  new  shapes  and  combina 
tions,  according  to  principles  that  were  not  in  operation 
before ;  that  finally,  within  the  last  few  years,  the  new 
system,  which  has  thus  risen  from  the  wreck  of  the  for 
mer,  has  arranged  itself  into  three  great  divisions,  each 
composed  of  various  members,  bound  together  by  some 
common  principle  of  union,  and  that  one  of  these  divi 
sions  is  formed  by  the  cluster  of  young  and  vigorous  re 
publics,  occupying  our  western  continent,  and  acting 
under  the  auspices  and  guidance  of  our  own  favoured 
country.  A  correct  estimate  of  the  nature  and  conse 
quences  of  this  position  is  indispensable  in  future,  to  all 
who  desire  to  take  part,  with  honour  and  advantage,  in 
the  conduct  of  the  public  affairs ;  and  the  proud  satis 
faction  that  we  naturally  feel,  at  seeing  our  country  raised 
to  this  commanding  height  among  the  nations  of  the 
world,  may  well  be  tempered  with  a  sentiment  of  awe, 
when  we  recollect  the  immense  responsibility,  the  grave 
and  sacred  duties,  involved  in  the  exercise  of  so  much 
power.  To  study  these  duties  and  their  corresponding 
rights,  is  therefore  a  matter  of  high  and  pressing  inte 
rest.  It  is  the  object  of  this  imperfect  essay  to  assist  in 
this  inquiry,  and  I  shall  deem  the  labour  of  it  well  be 
stowed,  if  I  am  able  to  throw  any  light,  however  feeble, 
on  so  vast  and  important  a  subject.  On  a  former  occa 
sion,  I  attempted  a  rapid  survey  of  the  political  situation 


29 

of  the  ancient  continent,  including  Great  Britain,  and  1 
now  propose  to  complete  the  work  then  commenced,  by 
a  similar  review  of  our  own  western  hemisphere.  The 
indulgence  with  which  the  former  sketch  was  received, 
by  a  few  partial  judges,  affords  me  some  encouragement 
in  regard  to  the  success  of  this ;  and  with  all  the  diffi 
dence,  which  I  nevertheless  cannot  but  feel  in  undertak 
ing  it,  I  experience  at  the  same  time  a  high  degree  of 
satisfaction  in  reflecting,  that  I  shall  naturally  be  led,  in 
treating  this  part  of  the  subject,  to  dwell  at  considera 
ble  length  upon  the  institutions,  the  policy,  and  the  pros 
pects  of  our  own  happy  country,  of  whose  present  glory 
and  splendid  future  destinies  we  are  all  so  justly  proud. 
In  order  to  connect  this  part  of  the  essay  with  the  pre 
ceding  one,  I  shall  offer  in  the  following  chapter  a  rapid 
sketch  of  the  principal  political  events  of  the  last  five 
years;  and  shall  then  take  up  in  order  the  several  sub 
jects,  that  belong  more  immediately  to  the  present  occa 
sion. 


30 


CHAPTER  II. 

Brief  Review  of  the  principal  Events  of  the  last 
five  years. 

THE  history  of  the  last  five  years  is  replete  with 
events  in  themselves  of  imposing  magnitude,  and  ren 
dered  still  more  remarkable  by  the  vast  influence 
which  they  may  hereafter  exercise  on  the  fortunes  of 
the  human  race.  During  this  period  the- new  political 
system,  of  which  a  general  outline  was  traced  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  has  put  on,  for  the  first  time, 
the  form  which  it  is  likely  to  wear  perhaps  for  cen 
turies  to  come.  Within  this  time,  the  patriots  of 
Spanish  America  have  completed,  by  their  perse 
verance  and  bravery,  the  great  work  of  their  eman 
cipation;  and  the  acknowledgment  of  their  indepen 
dence,  by  the  United  States  and  England,  may  be 
considered  as  fixing  the  epoch  when  our  western  con 
tinent,  under  the  auspices  of  tnir  own  country  acting 
as  the  leading  American  power,  has  assumed  its  proper 
and  permanent  place  in  the  political  world.  On  the 
other  hand,  this  same  acknowledgment  of  the  inde 
pendence  of  South  America  by  England,  afforded  the 
first  decisive  indication  of  the  separation  of  the  latter 
power  from  the  continental  alliance,  and  therefore 
marks  the  development  of  the  new  political  system  in 
its  second  principal  division.  Finally,  the  overthrow 


31 

of  the  Spanish  constitution  by  the  military  power  of 
France,  acting  under  the  influence,  one  might  almost 
say  the  compulsion,  of  Russia,  which  has  taken  place 
within  the  same  period,  established  the  ascendancy  of 
arbitrary  principles  among  the  western  continental  na 
tions,  and  thus  displayed  for  the  first  time  in  its  full 
deformity  the  third  prominent  feature  in  the  present 
aspect  of  Christendom.  The  great  events  that  have 
taken  place  in  America  will  form,  in  connexion  with 
the  present  situation  and  prospects  of  the  powers  im 
mediately  affected  by  them,  the  principal  subjects  of 
the  present  work;  and  it  will  therefore  not  be  neces 
sary  to  discuss  them  particularly  in  this  preliminary 
sketch.  I  shall  confine  myself  in  this  chapter  to  a 
few  remarks  upon  the  two  other  leading  occurrences 
in  the  history  of  the  last  five  years,  to  which  I  have 
just  alluded;  viz.  the  counter-revolution  in  Spain,  and 
the  acknowledgment  by  Great  Britain  of  the  indepen 
dence  of  Spanish  America. 

The  former  will  probably  be  regarded  hereafter  us 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  as  well  as  unfortunate 
events  of  modern  times,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to 
give  a  reasonable  account  of  it,  upon  any  of  the  prin 
ciples  that  commonly  regulate  the  conduct  of  men.  It 
is  true  that  party  spirit  and  fanaticism  had  some  indi 
rect  share  in  bringing  it  about;  and  these  motives  are 
sufficient,  as  far  as  they  go,  to  furnish  an  explanation  of 
any  act,  however  mad  or  foolish.  But  it  does  not  appeal- 
after  all  that  M.  de  Villele  and  M.  de  Chateaubriand, 
the  two  leading  statesmen  under  whose  advice  the  mea 
sure  must  be  supposed  to  have  been  adopted,  were 
wholly  or  even  mainly  governed  by  either  of  these 


principles.  Though  both  are  decided  royalists,  neith 
er  has  ever  been  considered  as  attached  to  the  blindly 
fanatical  section  of  the  party,  with  which  the  invasion 
of  Spain  was  a  favourite  plan;  and  both  had  given, 
and  continued  to  give  to  the  very  last,  repeated  and 
unequivocal  proofs  of  their  wish  to  avoid  this  extremi 
ty,  while  at  the  same  time  there  was  no  apparent  rea 
son  why  they  should  resolve  upon  the  measure,  if  they 
did  not  like  it.  Their  conduct,  under  these  circum 
stances,  displays  a  sort  of  unaccountable  infatuation, 
not  unlike  that  of  a  fascinated  bird,  which  is  seen  to 
plunge  suddenly,  by  a  sort  of  desperate  effort,  into  the 
jaws  of  destruction,  at  the  very  moment  when  its  wild 
and  anxious  fluttering  seems  to  show  that  it  is  fully 
aware  of  the  danger,  and  when  an  act  of  the  will  is 
the  only  thing  wanting  to  its  safety.  A  brief  recapitu 
lation  of  the  facts  immediately  connected  with  the 
adoption  of  this  fatal  policy,  will  prove  sufficiently  the 
correctness  of  this  statement. 

The  fall  of  M.  de  Gazes  and  the  gradual  elevation  of 
M.  de  Villele,  first  to  the  ministry  and  then  to  the  pre 
sidency  of  the  council,  indicated  the  ascendency  of  a 
decidedly  royalist  party,  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Thuile- 
ries.  But  although  the  royalists,  while  contending  with 
the  liberal,  or,  as  they  considered  it,  revolutionary  par 
ty,  had  been  pretty  well  united,  they  had  no  sooner 
succeeded  in  completely  discomfiting  the  common  ene 
my,  than  they  separated  at  once  into  two  sections,  some 
times  called  the  politicians  and  the  fanatics,  which  car 
ried  on  the  war  against  each  other  with  nearly  as  much 
violence  as  the  royalists  and  the  liberalists  had  done 
before.  The  politicians*  though  not  perhaps  very  fond 


33 

of  representative  government  in  the  abstract,  considered 
it  as  expedient  in  the  present  state  of  France,  and  as 
being  at  any  rate  an  established  institution,  which  it 
would  be  highly  imprudent  and  dangerous  to  attempt 
to  overturn  or  even  to  appear  to  dislike.  Some  of  them, 
as  for  example,  M.  de  Chateaubriand,  even  go  farther 
than  this,  and  have  always  professed  a  warm  attachment 
to  the  forms  of  constitutional  monarchy.  The  fanatics. 
on  the  other  hand,  make  no  secret  of  their  utter  con 
tempt  and  detestation  of  all  the  modern  political  theo 
ries  ;  and  include  in  this  number,  with  hardly  a  shadow 
of  reserve,  the  existing  French  charter.  In  their  opi 
nion,  the  only  practicable  and  safe  government  is  a  vir 
tual  theocracy,  in  which  the  clergy  are  in  fact  the  ruling 
order,  and  superstition  the  principle  of  obedience  in 
the  subject,  and  of  authority  in  the  government.  Of  these 
two  sections  of  the  royalist  party,  the  politicians  were 
decidedly  predominant,  and  M.  de  Villele,  the  minister, 
was  regarded  as  their  leader.  The  fanatics  were  much 
less  numerous,  and  formed  a  small  but  very  violent  op 
position  corps  in  the  house  of  deputies.  Each  party  had 
its  daily  papers,  which  served  as  regular  organs  of  its 
opinions,  and  from  the  opening  of  the  Spanish  revolu 
tion  these  journals  had  exhibited  a  strongly  marked  dis 
cordance  of  feeling  in  regard  to  it.  The  politicians, 
though  finding  occasionally  much  to  blame,  viewed  it  as. 
on  the  whole,  a  fortunate  event,  and  treated  the  new 
constitution  as  a  plausible  imitation  of  the  French  char 
ter.  The  fanatics  could  hardly  find  words  to  express 
their  abhorrence  for  its  forms  and  principles,  and  were 
continually  insisting  on  the  necessity  of  a  crusade  for  the 


purpose  of  putting  it  down.  When  the  northern  powers 
began  to  exhibit  pretty  strong  symptoms  of  a  disposition  to 
take  such  a  step,  these  opposite  opinions  were  express 
ed  in  France  with  still  more  decision.  The  Journal 
des  Debats,  the  ablest  newspaper  printed  in  Europe, 
then  a  warm  ministerial  one,  and  supposed  to  be  under 
the  immediate  direction  of  M.  de  Chateaubriand,  in 
sisted  strenuously  on  the  inexpediency  and  impolicy  of 
attempting  to  crush  the  Spanish  revolution  by  force. — 
Meanwhile  the  holy  allies,  having  gradually  and  suffi 
ciently  matured  their  plan,  determined  upon  holding  a 
congress  at  Verona,  and  invited  France  and  England  to 
meet  with  them.  The  Duke  de  Montmorency  was  then 
minister  of  foreign  affairs,  and  was  naturally  one  of  the 
persons  appointed  to  represent  the  French  government. 
M.  de  Chateaubriand,  then  ambassador  at  London,  was 
united  with  him  in  the  mission ;  and  his  sentiments  in 
regard  to  representative  government  were  so  perfectly 
well  known,  that  his  appointment  was  considered  as  a 
pretty  decisive  proof  that  nothing  violent  would  be 
attempted  against  Spain.  The  fanatics  viewed  it  in 
this  light,  and  a  certain  Marquis  de  Jouffroy,  a  busy 
officious  scribbler,  between  agent  and  marplot  in  the 
service  of  this  party,  addressed  at  this  time  a  long  letter 
to  Prince  Metternich,  which  found  its  way  afterwards 
into  the  journals,  in  which  he  formally  denounced  Cha 
teaubriand  as  a  person,  in  whom  the  royalists  had  no 
confidence,  and  as  the  apostle  of  constitutions.  M.  de 
Montmorency,  who  is  since  dead,  was  a  nobleman  of 
excellent  feelings  and  intentions,  but  of  no  very  great 
intellectual  power.  He  had  been  in  his  youth  a  decided 
partisan  of  the  revolution,  but  had  since  publicly  abjured 


35 

his  errors  before  the  house  of  deputies,  and  had  some 
thing  of  the  excessive  zeal  of  a  new  convert  to  the  cause 
of  royalism.  He  therefore,  if  either,  was  the  one  of  the 
two  French  agents  at  Verona,  who  might  fairly  be  con 
sidered  as  representing  the  fanatics,  being  in  fact,  him 
self,  a  real  fanatic,  in  his  own  way. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  congress  met,  per 
formed  its  task,  and  separated.  The  session  lasted  for 
two  or  three  months,  and  during  the  whole  time  the 
French  ministerial  papers  preserved  their  usual  moderate 
tone,  in  regard  to  Spain,  and  the  Journal  des  Debate 
deprecated  as  strongly  as  ever  an  armed  interference. 
The  public  events  that  immediately  followed  the  sepa 
ration  of  the  congress,  are  fresh  in  the  memory  of  all. 
England,  it  appeared,  had  refused  to  take  any  part  in 
the  business;  Russia,  Austria,  and  Prussia,  acting  in 
concert,  withdrew  their  ministers  from  Spain,  and  ad 
dressed  violent  notes  to  the  Spanish  government,  in 
which  they  professed  their  intention  to  break  off  all 
connexion  with  them,  as  long  as  the  present  system 
lasted.  France,  on  the  contrary,  took  a  different  course, 
kept  her  minister  at  Madrid,  and  addressed  a  note  to 
the  Spanish  government,  which  seemed  to  have  little 
or  no  actual  object,  except  to  show  that  her  policy  dif 
fered  from  that  of  the  northern  powers.  At  the  same 
time,  the  Duke  de  Montmorency  resigned,  and  M.  de 
Chateaubriand  was  appointed  minister  of  foreign  affairs. 
The  natural,  one  may  say,  the  necessary  conclusion 
from  all  this  was,  that  France  had  come  forward  at  the 
congress  as  the  advocate  of  constitutional  monarchy,  and 
was  determined  not  to  attack  Spain,  or  allow,  if  she 
could  help  it,  any  one  else  to  do  so;  and  the  change  of 


36 

ministry  at  home  was  easily  accounted  for,  by  supposing 
that  M.  de  Montmorency  had  been  inclined  to  a  dif 
ferent  policy,  and  that  M.  de  Chateaubriand?  a  known 
and  declared  friend  of  representative  constitutions, 
would  be  a  more  suitable  minister  at  the  existing  crisis. 
Such,  I  say,  were  the  natural  conclusions  from  the  first 
events  that  followed  the  dissolution  of  the  congress ;  but 
before  the  friends  of  liberal  principles  and  of  France, 
had  time  to  realize  their  satisfaction  at  these  results, 
within  three  or  four  weeks  after  the  change  of  ministry, 
the  chambers  met,  and  the  king  addressed  them  in  a 
speech,  which  amounted  to  a  declaration  of  war.  It  was 
only  a  year  before,  that  he  had  told  them,  in  the  same 
place  and  upon  the  same  occasion,  that  the  army  of  the 
Pyrenees  was  simply  a  cordon  sanitaire,  and  that  ma 
lignity  alone  (malveillancej  could  put  any  other  con 
struction  upon  the  formation  of  it.  The  session  opened, 
and  M.  de  Chateaubriand  himself,  the  apostle  of  con 
stitutions,  came  forward  in  his  new  character  of  minis 
ter,  and  defended  the  policy  of  an  armed  interference  in 
the  affairs  of  Spain,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the 
established  constitution.  His  journal  followed  his  exam 
ple,  and,  to  use  one  of  Lord  Castlereagh's  favourite 
phrases,  also  turned  its  back  upon  itself,  and  now  stout 
ly  defended  the  invasion,  which  it  had  so  long  depre 
cated,  under  pretext  that  it  had  become  a  government 
measure,  which  it  was  the  duty  of  every  loyal  subject 
to  support. 

Of  this  singular  denouement  no  satisfactory  explana 
tion  has  ever  been  given,  nor  is  it  yet  known  why  the 
moderate  section  of  the  royalists,  after  apparently  obtain 
ing  a  complete  victory  over  their  adversaries,  should 


37 

have  adopted  and  carried  irito  effect,  at  the  very  mo 
ment  of  success,  the  policy  against  which  they  had  been 
contending.  They  appear,  therefore,  as  I  said  before, 
to  have  acted  under  a  sort  of  blind  and  unaccountable 
infatuation.  M.  de  Villele,  it  is  true,  made  no  scruple 
of  affirming  in  the  house  of  deputies,  that  if  they  did 
not  make  war  at  the  south  they  should  have  it  at  the 
north,  or,  in  other  words,  that  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
had  ordered  him  to  invade  Spain,  and  that  he  must 
obey.  But  if  this  were  the  case,  why  remove  M.  de 
Montmorency,  and  give  his  place  to  a  known  friend  of 
representative  government,  hitherto  a  declared  and  de 
termined  enemy  of  the  invasion  ?  What  could  have 
induced  M.  de  Chateaubriand  to  lend  himself  to  such 
a  policy,  and  thus  fix  an  indelible  stain  upon  his  high 
and  well  deserved  reputation?  It  has  sometimes  been 
surmised  indeed,  that  there  was  a  secret  understanding 
between  the  French  ministry  and  the  military  leaders 
in  Spain,  by  the  effect  of  which  the  former  were  to  be 
put  in  possession  of  the  country,  and  were  then  to  estab 
lish  a  new  constitution,  somewhat  different  from  the 
existing  one,  and  more  resembling  the  French  Cham 
bers,  but  still  substantially  liberal,  and  in  the  represen 
tative  form.  These  surmises  are  not,  I  believe,  support 
ed  by  any  very  strong  positive  authority,  but  they 
appear  to  me  to  be  extremely  probable,  because  they 
really  furnish  the  only  imaginable  account,  upon  which 
the  conduct  of  the  French  ministry  can  be  reconciled 
with  ordinary  common  rules,  and  a  decent  regard  for 
political  consistency.  If  true,  they  illustrate  very 
strongly  the  danger  of  substituting  a  system  of  intrigue 
and  secret  management,  in  place  of  a  fair,  open,  and 


38 

generous  policy.  If  it  was  really  the  object  of  the 
French  ministry  to  establish  in  Spain  a  constitutional 
government,  they  found  themselves  completely  disap 
pointed  and  over-reached ;  and  by  their  own  impolitic 
proceedings  lost  the  advantages  of  victory,  at  the  very 
moment  of  obtaining  it.  Had  they  left  the  formal 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  constitutional  party, 
and  lent  them  a  fair  and  honest  support,  they  might,  in 
concurrence  with  England,  have  finally  prevailed  upon 
them  to  modify  their  form  of  government.  But  by  first 
invading  the  country  and  throwing  the  formal  power 
again  into  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  clergy,  a  body  ten 
times  more  fanatical  than  even  the  French  fanatics,  they 
lost  all  their  influence  at  once,  and  became  the  mere 
servile  instruments  of  the  very  party  whom  they  had 
just  before  beaten  at  home.  The  regency  was  no  sooner 
established,  than  it  became  unmanageable,  openly  dis 
puted  the  authority  of  the  Duke  of  Angouleme,  and, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  had  influence  enough  at  Paris, 
to  prevent  the  latter  from  being  sustained  in  his  mode 
rate  measures  by  his  own  government  which  had  pre 
scribed  them.  The  military  leaders,  Morillo,  Balleste- 
ros,  Abisbal,  and  others,  with  whom  the  secret  under 
standing,  if  any  such  existed,  must  have  been  concerted, 
and  for  whose  proceedings  it  is  indeed  difficult  to  account 
upon  any  other  supposition,  were  basely  sacrificed. 
The  French  ministry,  represented  by  a  victorious  gene 
ral,  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal,  at  the  head  of  a  hundred 
thousand  men,  could  not  even  gain  a  hearing  from  a  troop 
of  insolent  and  ignorant  monks,  whom  they  had  just 
delivered  from  imprisonment  and  beggary;  and  the 
apostle  of  constitutions  terminated  his  armed  interven- 


39 

tion  in  favour  of  representative  government,  by  the 
establishment  of  a  virtual  theocracy,  in  the  person  of 
Victor  Saez,  the  king's  confessor. 

Such  may  perhaps  have  been  the  secret  history  of 
this  transaction,  which,  as  it  stands  openly  before  the 
public,  is,  as  I  have  observed,  a  wholly  unfathomable 
mystery,  and  which,  on  this  view  of  it,  exhibits  a  sin 
gular  instance  of  mismanagement  and  duplicity  in  a 
cabinet,  which  is  willing  enough  to  be  considered  as 
the  most  acute  and  skilful  in  the  world,  but  which  is 
too  apt  to  lose  sight  of  the  first  and  most  essential  in 
gredient  in  all  good  policy.  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  motives  which  led  them  to  adopt  this  measure,  its 
fatal  operation,  first  upon  Spain,  and  then  upon  the 
whole  Christian  world,  is  but  too  perceptible.  With 
the  overthrow  of  the  Spanish  constitution,  perished, 
probably  for  ever,  all  hopes  of  the  revival  of  the  indus 
try,  prosperity,  and  power  of  that  ancient  and  once 
illustrious  state.  It  is  true,  that,  even  under  an  arbi 
trary  government,  the  great  administrative  measures 
required  by  the  present  situation  of  things,  such  as  the 
acknowledgment  of  American  independence,  the  estab 
lishment  of  public  credit  by  the  assumption  of  the  debts 
of  the  Cortes,  and  a  thorough  reform  of  the  whole  sys 
tem  of  internal  administration,  would,  if  adopted,  ac 
complish  a  great  deal  of  good.  But  this  is  only  saying 
in  other  words,  that  if  an  arbitrary  government  were  to 
act  in  the  spirit  of  a  liberal  one,  it  would  produce  the 
same  effects.  The  great  advantage  of  reforming  the 
constitution  was,  that  such  a  reform  naturally  led  to  a 
reform  in  the  administration,  and  with  the  present  sys 
tem  of  government  no  improvement  in  the  administra- 


40 

lion  can  reasonably  be  expected.  The  complete  ruin 
of  Spain  was  therefore  the  first,  but  unfortunately  not 
the  only,  nor  perhaps  even  the  worst  of  the  evils  pro 
duced  by  the  French  invasion.  The  overthrow  of  li 
berty  in  Spain  completed  the  work  which  had  been 
commenced  in  Italy,  by  securing  at  least  against  all  pre 
sent  danger,  the  triumph  of  despotism  throughout  the 
continent.  Considered  under  this  point  of  view,  it 
appears  even  more  deplorable,  than  in  its  immediate 
effects  on  the  welfare  of  the  ill-fated  kingdom  in  which 
it  was  accomplished. 

It  is  difficult  to  read,  without  emotions  of  wonder  and 
contempt,  the  pretences  employed  by  the  French  mi 
nisters  to  justify  the  invasion,  whatever  we  may  suppose 
to  have  been  their  real  views  in  undertaking  it.  The 
principal  one  was  the  danger  resulting  from  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  Spanish  constitution.  Danger  to  France 
from  Spain!  danger  to  a  kingdom  that  had  just  estab 
lished  a  liberal  constitution,  from  the  establishment  of  a 
similar  one  in  a  neighbouring  and  weaker  state  !  There 
was  hardly  reason  enough  in  these  notions,  to  give  an 
appearance  of  method  to  the  madness  of  the  act  they 
were  intended  to  justify.  In  addition  to  this,  M.  de 
Chateaubriand  alleged  another  consideration,  in  his 
speech  in  the  house  of  deputies,  which,  for  its  very 
singularity,  has  acquired  a  sort  of  ridiculous  notoriety. 
He  said  that  it  was  necessary  to  make  war,  because  the 
existing  state  of  things  injured  the  trade  in  mules  be 
tween  the  border  provinces  of  the  two  kingdoms.  Does 
not  charity  itself  require  that  we  should  suppose  this 
eminent  statesman  to  have  been  acting  upon  one  set  of 
motives,  while  he  professed  another,  and  these  not  the 


41 

most  happily  imagined  ?  But  the  strength  of  the  rea 
sons  against  this  measure  was,  if  possible,  still  more  con 
spicuous  than  the  weakness  of  the  pretences  alleged  in 
its  favour.  I  say  nothing  of  the  glaring  and  acknow 
ledged  injustice  of  interfering  by  force  of  arms,  and 
without  necessity,  in  the  internal  government  of  a  friend 
ly  power.  I  should  expect  to  be  charged  with  niaiserie. 
now  the  fashionable  bye-word  with  the  enemies  of  liber 
ty,  if  I  were  to  pretend  to  suppose  it  possible,  that 
government  should  be  deterred  by  a  sense  of  right  and 
justice,  from  doing  what  they  believed  to  be  expedient. 
I  will  even  lay  out  of  the  case  the  obvious  considera 
tion,  which,  however,  no  enlightened  French  statesman 
ought  to  have  overlooked  for  a  moment,  that  the  deve 
lopment  of  the  principle  of  liberty,  in  the  west  of  Eu 
rope,  is  the  great  defence  of  France  against  the  en 
croaching  power  of  Russia.  I  admit  that  this  is  a  truth, 
which  the  party  now  predominant  at  the  Thuil cries 
could  hardly  be  expected  to  perceive.  But  looking  at 
the  state  of  Europe,  simply  under  the  old  diplomatic 
point  of  view,  and  considering  the  several  nations  as 
independent  masses  of  power  mutually  dangerous  to 
each  other  in  proportion  to  their  greatness,  the  impoli 
cy  of  the  invasion  appears  so  palpable,  so  enormous,  that 
it  is  almost  inconceivable  how  it  could  have  been  under 
taken.  That  France  should  look  on  quietly  and  see  the 
northern  allies,  or  in  one  word,  Russia  cast  her  iron  net 
over  the  whole  of  Italy,  after  riveting  it  already  over  the 
whole  of  Germany, — this  of  itself  was  passing  strange. 
This  was  policy  that  might  have  shaken  in  their  cere 
ments  the  Sull's,  the  Richelieu's,  and  the  Favier's.  to 


42 

say  nothing  of  Napoleon.  But  that  France,  not  content 
with  this  silent  acquiescence  in  her  own  degradation, 
should  consent  to  become  herself  the  instrument  of  car 
rying  still  further  the  influence  of  that  portentous  pow 
er,  that  now  overshadows  Europe, — that  the  Duke  of 
Angouleme  should  be  the  person  employed  to  plant 
upon  the  towers  of  Cadiz  the  fatal  banner  of  despotism, 
which  was  waving  before  in  triumph  over  every  fortress, 
from  Archangel  to  Naples ;  this  was  conduct  to  which 
epithets  can  do  no  justice,  and  of  which  the  simplest 
description  that  can  be  given,  is  the  strongest  possible 
satire.  Were  the  ministers  then  labouring  under  some 
delusion,  that  prevented  them  from  seeing  the  preci 
pice  before  they  reached  it?  We  know  on  the  contrary, 
by  their  own  public  declarations,  that  they  were  fully 
aware  of  the  nature  of  the  course  they  were  pursuing. 
M.  de  Villele,  as  I  have  stated  before,  affirmed  publicly 
in  the  house  of  deputies,  that  if  he  did  not  make  war 
at  the  south  he  should  have  it  at  the  north.  It  is  true 
that  M.  de  Chateaubriand  affected  to  place  great  confi 
dence  in  the  moderation  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  and 
quoted  in  his  speech,  with  much  satisfaction,  the  assur 
ance  given  him  by  that  monarch  at  the  congress  of  Verona, 
that  providence  had  placed  him  at  the  head  of  an  army 
of  eight  hundred  thousand  men,  not  to  make  war  but  to 
keep  the  peace  of  Europe.  But  were  these  grave  and 
experienced  statesmen  persons  to  be  cheated  by  a  few 
fair  words?  More  probably,  as  I  have  already  observed, 
they  were  pursuing  through  a  labyrinth  of  tortuous 
intrigues,  some  imaginary  clue  of  policy  which  they 
thought  would  conduct  them  to  a  safe  position;  but 
which  miserably  failed  them  in  the  sequel.  However 


43 

this  may  be,  their  plans  terminated  in  reducing  France 
to  a  secondary  rank  in  the  great  political  sphere,  and  en 
dangering  even  her  independent  national  existence. 
Instead  of  being,  as  she  had  often  been  in  former  times, 
the  arbitress  of  Europe,  she  now  appears  as  a  power  of 
inferior  order,  sometimes  led  by  England  and  sometimes 
by  Russia,  but  never  standing  out  firmly  on  the  basis 
of  a  genuine  French  policy.  Having  thus  carried 
their  point  in  respect  to  foreign  affairs,  the  fanatics 
have  become  more  active  and  apparently  more  suc 
cessful  in  their  efforts  to  destroy  the  principle  of  in 
ternal  improvement,  and  to  bring  back  the  exploded 
superstitions  and  abuses  of  the  old  regime.  They  meet 
with  occasional  rebuffs,  but  they  seem  on  the  whole  to 
have  their  way,  and  at  this  very  moment,  with  the  ghast 
ly  spectre  of  Jesuitism  at  their  head,  are  marching  with 
rapid  strides  to  the  conquest  of  the  country  and  the  sub 
version  of  the  charter.  With  this  defection  in  the  French 
councils,  disappeared,  however,  every  national  hope  of 
an  early  rescue  of  the  civilized  part  of  Europe  from  the 
influence  of  the  barbarous  empires  of  the  north.  The 
friends  of  liberty  on  the  continent  have  now  abandoned 
the  expectation  of  any  immediate  improvement  in  its 
political  condition,  and  derive  their  only  comfort  from 
the  contemplation  of  the  partial  success  of  the  cause  to 
which  they  are  devoted  in  England,  and  its  rapid  and 
brilliant  triumphs  in  our  western  continent.  In  these 
more  favoured  regions,  the  prospect  of  the  future  is  not 
less  flattering  and  agreeable,  than  it  is  desolating  and 
dreadful  in  the  one  we  have  now  reviewed.  To  them, 
therefore,  I  turn  with  a  feeling  of  relief  and  pleasure. 
The  next  event  of  great  and  general  interest  that 


44 

occurred  in  Europe  alter  the  overthrow  of  the  Spanish 
constitution  was  the  acknowledgment  hy  England  of 
the  independence  of  the  new  governments  of  America. 
This  was  a  measure  of  the  highest  importance,  whether 
considered  in  its  effects  upon  the  nation  which  adopted 
it,  or  upon  the  whole  political  system.  As  it  respects 
the  latter,  it  completely  established  the  alienation  of 
Great  Britain  from  the  continental  alliance,  gave  that 
power  a  distinct  and  independent  position  in  the  world  * 
and  confirmed  for  ever,  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt, 
the  emancipation  of  Spanish  America.  This  single  stroke 
of  policy,  therefore,  completed  the  development  of  the 
new  political  system,  in  all  its  three  great  divisions.  As 
regards  its  operation  upon  the  immediate  interests  of 
England,  it  favoured  the  progress  of  liberal  principles 
at  home,  and  exercised  a  very  beneficial  influence  on  the 
economical  situation  of  the  country.  Several  circum 
stances  concurred  to  recommend  and  determine  the 
adoption  of  this  measure  at  the  time  when  it  took  place ; 
among  which  was  the  wish  to  secure,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  American  markets,  jealousy  of  the  advantage  that 
the  United  States  might  obtain  in  this  respect,  in  conse 
quence  of  their  prior  recognition,  disgust  at  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  continental  powers,  and  finally  the  accidental 
death  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  followed  by  the  appointment 
of  Mr.  Canning  as  secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs. 
The  alliance  between  England  and  Russia  for  the 
overthrow  of  Bonaparte,  however  cordial  it  may  have 
been  at  the  time,  under  the  operation  of  a  strong  com 
mon  interest,  left  them,  when  the  object  was  effected, 
in  their  natural  positions  of  rival  and  hostile  powers. — 
This  new  relation  was  not  very  long  in  displaying  itself, 


45 

and  began  to  appear  even  at  the  congress  of  Vienna, 
which  preceded  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  The  projects 
of  aggrandizement  manifested  by  Russia  at  that  congress, 
were  of  course  opposed  by  England,  and  their  complete 
success  afforded  a  pretty  distinct  indication  of  the  actual 
weight  of  the  two  greatrivals  in  the  scale  of  Europe.  The 
formation  of  the  holy  alliance,  without  the  concurrence 
or  participation  of  Great  Britain,  the  violent  interven 
tion  of  the  allies  in  the  affairs  of  Naples  and  Sardinia, 
against  her  advice  and  wishes,  and  finally  the  repetition 
of  the  same  action,  on  a  still  larger  theatre,  at  the  con 
gress  of  Verona,  fully  established  the  fact  of  the  prepon 
derance  of  Russia,  and  the  comparative  nullity  of  Eng 
land  in  reference  to  the  continent.  On  all  those  occa 
sions,  the  latter  power  had  acted  the  part  of  a  passive 
and  unwilling  spectator  of  measures,  in  which  she  could 
not  co-operate,  and  which  she  avowedly  disapproved, 
but  which  she  could  not  venture  to  resist  by  force,  and 
was  even  under  a  political  necessity  of  sanctioning  to  a 
certain  extent,  by  appearing  at  the  assemblies  at  which 
they  were  adopted.  Such  was  the  not  very  brilliant 
position  to  which  Great  Britain  found  herself  reduced, 
by  a  singular  turn  of  the  wheel  of  fortune,  immediately 
after  the  close  of  a  thirty- years'  war,  carried  on  at  un 
heard  of  expense,  for  the  express  purpose  of  securing 
her  influence  in  Europe,  and  crowned,  as  she  supposed, 
with  signal  success.  The  worst  of  the  case  was  that  it 
did  not  admit  of  any  effectual  remedy.  It  was  impossible 
for  the  nation,  encumbered  already  with  a  debt  of  a 
thousand  millions  sterling,  to  engage  in  another  intermi 
nable  contest  with  the  combined  powers  of  the  continent ; 
and  every  thinej  short  of  a  war  had  been  tried  without 


46 

eft'ect.  It  was  therefore,  to  all  appearance,  a  matter  of 
necessity  to  acquiesce  in  this  passive  situation,  and  to 
sink  quietly,  and  without  a  struggle,  into  the  rank  of  the 
secondary  powers.  A  minister  of  ordinary  talent  and 
resources  would  have  probably  done  this,  nor  would  any 
intellectual  vigour  have  succeeded  in  preventing  such  a 
result,  without  the  occurrence  of  some  favourable  acci 
dent.  As- it  happened,  a  series  of  events  of  great  im 
portance  was  at  the  same  time  actually  proceeding  in 
South  America,  which  afforded  the  British  government 
the  opportunity  of  taking  a  new  stand  in  the  political 
system  of  Europe  and  the  world.  In  order  to  do  this, 
however,  with  effect,  it  was  necessary  to  make  some  little 
sacrifices  on  the  score  of  consistency,  and  to  brush  away 
rather  rudely  some  cobwebs  of  delicacy,  which  would 
probably  have  greatly  embarrassed  the  wings  of  Lord 
Castlereagh.  It  may  be  doubted,  whether  that  minister 
would  have  thought  it  consistent  with  the  respect  due  to 
the  supposed  rights  of  the  King  of  Spain  over  his  colo 
nies,  to  take  precedence  of  him,  in  the  acknowledgment 
of  their  independence.  It  required  the  action  of  a  strong 
and  independent  mind  in  the  cabinet,  to  remove  these 
scruples,  however  idle  they  may  now  appear  ;  and  had 
it  not  been  for  the  accidental  death  of  Lord  Castlereagh 
and  the  succession  of  Mr.  Canning  to  the  vacant  place, 
at  this  very  critical  moment,  this  great  measure  might 
perhaps  have  been  delayed  for  an  indefinite  length  of 
time.  Such  delay  would  have  exercised  a  material  and 
probably  very  unfavourable  influence  upon  the  course  of 
events  in  Europe  and  America.  On  this,  therefore,  as 
on  other  occasions,  fortune  as  well  as  policy  had  effect  in 
determining  the  movement  of  affairs. 


47 

It  appears  somewhat  singular,  that  two  statesmen,  no 
minally  attached  to  the  same  political  party,  bred  in  the 
same  school,  professing  an  unbounded  and  sincere  vene 
ration  for  the  same  great  master,  and  who  in  fact  had 
acted  together  for  years,  not  very  harmoniously  it  must 
be  owned,  as  members  of  the  same  cabinet,  should  enter* 
tain  views  so  essentially  different  upon  the  foreign  poli 
tics  of  the  country.  But  the  personal  characters  of  Lord 
Castlereagh  and  Mr.  Canning  were  as  opposite,  as  their 
political  course  had  been  in  some  respects  similar.  Lord 
Castlereagh  was  a  statesman  of  mere  routine,  and  possess 
ed  in  no  eminent  degree  the  qualities  that  belong  to  that 
character.  He  administered  the  government  as  it  had 
been  arranged  by  Mr.  Pitt,  in  the  same  way  in  which  a 
chief  clerk  carries  on  the  affairs  of  a  department  in  the 
absence  of  his  principal ;  but  to  do  him  justice  he  was  a 
chief  clerk  of  a  high  order.  Though  incapable  of  origi 
nal  conceptions,  he  was  indefatigably  active  and  indus 
trious  in  the  work  of  his  office.  Though  he  wanted 
power  and  eloquence,  he  was  fluent,  cool,  and  above  all, 
copious,  as  an  orator.  He  never  irritated,  and  could 
often  tire  out  his  opponents,  when  he  could  not  persuade 
or  convince  them.  As  a  writer,  he  had  no  pretensions  to 
purity  or  precision,  and  even  made  no  great  account  of 
grammar ;  but  he  was  a  safe  diplomatist,  because  he  ne 
ver  committed  himself  by  expressing  his  ideas  in  a  dis 
tinct  and  forcible  way,  so  that  his  despatches  would  bear 
any  construction  which  he  might  find  it  convenient  at 
any  time  to  put  upon  them.  He  was  very  imperfectly 
acquainted  with  politics  as  a  science,  and  he  could  there 
fore  hardly  be  considered  as  a  partizan  or  disciple  of 


48 

cither  despotism  or  liberty.  Although  he  told  his  conti 
nental  friends  that  the  mixture  of  the  latter  element, 
which  exists  in  the  British  constitution,  was  not  the  best 
part  of  it,  this  was  probably  rather  because  he  felt  it  at 
times  as  a  present  inconvenience,  than  because  he  approv 
ed  of  the  theory  or  practice  of  pure  despotism.  Qualities 
like  these  made  him  a  successful,  if  not  a  very  distin 
guished  minister,  as  long  as  affairs  could  proceed  without 
detriment  to  the  public  interest,  in  the  same  course 
which  they  were  pursuing  when  he  took  the  direction 
of  them.  But  when  a  crisis  occurred,  which  required 
the  adoption  of  new  and  original  measures,  he  was  found, 
and  would  have  continued  to  be  found  unequal  to  it. 
The  embarrassment  and  anxiety  which  he  felt  at  seeing 
himself  blown  offshore  in  this  way,  out  of  sight  of  all  the 
old  sea  marks,  and  without  chart  or  compass  to  direct 
him,  probably  contributed  to  produce  the  state  of  mind 
that  occasioned  his  death. 

Mr.  Canning's  character  was  in  almost  every  respect 
the  reverse  of  this.  He  possessed  most  of  the  high  intel 
lectual  and  moral  qualities  that  Lord  Castlereagh  want 
ed,  but  he  united  with  them  some  of  the  quiet  and  prac 
tical  merits  that  belonged  tc  his  predecessor.  A  finished 
scholar,  a  powerful  and  elegant  writer  in  prose  and 
verse,  an  eloquent  'orator,  capable  of  deep  thought, 
though  not  so  much  addicted  to  this  as  to  some  other 
intellectual  exercises,  he  united  almost  all  the  endow 
ments  that  constituted  a  mind  of  the  highest  order ;  but 
in  the  pride  of  these  advantages  he  has  some  times  for 
gotten  the  cool  and  steady  prudence,  which  is  at  once 
the  instinctive  resource  of  conscious  inferiority,  and  the 


49 

invariable  policy  of  true  practical  talent.  Fond  of  ex 
hibiting  his  skill  in  the  graceful  sports  of  wit  and  hu 
mour,  he  has  not  only  often  indulged  in  this  way  to 
excess,  in  his  parliamentary  speeches,  but  has  even 
pointed  his  gravest  diplomatic  despatches  with  irony 
and  sarcasm.  He  assured  the  Russian  chancellor,  Count 
Romanzoff,  in  answer  to  a  conventional  and  common 
place  remark  upon  the  inconveniences  of  the  war,  which 
that  minister  had  introduced  into  an  overture  for  peace 
addressed  to  Mr.  Canning  from  Erfurth,  that  it  was  not 
the  king's  fault,  if  the  continental  nations  were  distress 
ed  by  their  own  system.  In  like  manner,  he  informed 
our  government,  in  reply  to  some  similar  expression, 
that  although  his  majesty  regretted  very  much  the  in 
convenience  which  the  United  States  suffered  from  the 
embargo,  they  could  not  reasonably  expect  him  to  relieve 
them  from  it,  by  sacrificing  his  own  rights  and  interests. 
In  this  style  there  was  as  little  good  sense  and  good  taste 
as  there  was  good  feeling.  On  some  other  occasions  he 
has  exhibited  his  natural  independence  and  fearlessness 
of  character,  in  a  way  which  did  him  much  more  ho 
nour,  as  in  the  affair  of  the  queen.  Though  apparently 
partial  to  freedom  in  the  abstract,  he  was  led  by  a  just 
and  natural  abhorrence  of  the  excesses  of  the  French 
revolution  and  its  adherents  in  England,  to  attach  him 
self  to  the  ministerial  party ;  and  in  the  theory  of  the 
government  he  seems  to  have  adopted  the  opinion,  which 
in  its  application  to  Great  Britain  is  probably  correct, 
that  the  constitution  is  in  that  country  a  thing  entirely 
of  practice  and  not  of  theory,  that  it  was  not  founded 
and  cannot  safely  be  reformed  according  to  any  known 

7 


50 

political  rule,  but  must  be  left  without  touching,  to  fol 
low  its  own  course,  at  least  until  desperate  evils  shall 
require  desperate  remedies.  But  with  all  his  great  and 
brilliant  qualities,  his  political  course  was,  on  the  whole, 
unsuccessful,  and  somewhat  inglorious,  until  his  second 
entrance  into  the  cabinet  of  foreign  affairs.  His  position 
in  the  ministry,  after  his  first  retirement  from  that  de 
partment,  was  not  honourable  and  did  not  appear  to  be 
easy.  The  ascendency  of  an  inferior  but  more  fortunate 
rival,  was  evidently  unpalatable  to  him,  and  we  saw  him 
moving  about  like  a  restless  spirit,  in  different  parts  of 
Europe,  and  finally  preparing  to  embark  for  the  east, 
when  the  death  of  Lord  Castlereagh  restored  him  at 
once  to  his  proper  post,  at  the  very  moment  when  it 
stood  most  in  need  of  his  energetic  genius.  Since  that 
time,  his  career  has  been  sufficiently  brilliant,  to  atone 
for  any  preceding  failure  or  defect.  The  crisis  was 
eminently  favourable  to  the  exercise  of  superior  talent, 
and  Mr.  Canning  has  proved  himself  to  be  fully  equal 
to  it.  He  saw  the  fearful  and  growing  power  of  despot 
ism  in  his  neighbourhood,  and  felt  that  the  only  way  in 
which  England  could  avoid  becoming  a  victim  to  it, 
was  to  attach  her  fate  at  once  to  the  rising  empire  of 
freedom  in  America.  Satisfied  of  this,  and  conscious 
of  his  ability  to  strike  out  a  new  course  for  himself  and 
the  country,  he  broke  off  abruptly  his  connexion  with 
the  continent,  and,  like  another  Columbus,  turned  his 
hopes  and  views  to  the  world  embosomed  in  our  western 
ocean.  His  second  entrance  into  the  cabinet  of  foreign 
affairs  marks,  therefore,  the  opening  of  a  new  era  in  the 
policy,  foreign  and  domestic,  of  Great  Britain. 


51 

The  powerful  considerations  of  an  economical  charac 
ter,  which  also  conduced  to  recommend  this  great  mea 
sure,  and  the  favourable  effect  that  it  will  have  upon  the 
industry  and  commerce  of  England,  are  sufficiently  ob 
vious,  and  need  not  here  be  developed  at  length.  The 
opening  of  the  immense  market  of  Spanish  America  to 
the  manufacturers  of  England  was  sufficient,  if  the  thing 
be  in  any  way  within  the  compass  of  possibility,  to  relieve 
that  country  from  the  immense  burdens  with  which  it 
has  been  charged,  by  the  unexampled  efforts  of  the  go 
vernment  during  the  late  war.  At  any  rate  it  will  afford 
a  great  temporary  relief,  and  \vill  delay,  if  it  does  not 
ultimately  prevent  the  coming  on  of  the  evil  hour.  A 
natural  fear  that  the  United  States,  by  means  of  a  first 
recognition,  would  pre- occupy,  and  in  some  degree  ap 
propriate  this  glorious  field,  was  probably  one  of  the 
motives  which  operated  most  powerfully  in  inducing 
Great  Britain  to  accelerate  her  movements.  But  on  this 
head  we  have  no  ground  for  complaint,  nor  in  fact  for 
jealousy.  In  thus  consulting  the  economical  interest  of 
their  subjects,  the  British  government  only  did  what 
was  perfectly  within  their  competence ;  and  as  for  us, 
experience  shows  that  we  need  not  desire  a  larger  share 
of  the  commerce  of  the  world  than  we  can  obtain,  by  the 
effect  of  the  enterprise  and  talent  of  our  citizens,  enter 
ing  into  fair  competition  with  those  of  all  other  nations. 
Our  nearness  to  Spanish  America  will  always  give  us  a 
considerable  advantage  in  this  trade  over  England ;  and 
it  is  understood  that  in  some  important  branches  of  indus 
try  we  are  already,  notwithstanding  the  infancy  of  our 
manufacturing  establishments,  the  successful  rivals  of 


52 

the  mother  country.  This  amicable  contest  for  the  palm 
of  excellence  in  the  fine  and  useful  arts  of  life,  is  injuri 
ous  to  no  one,  and  indeed  promotes  directly  the  advan 
tage  of  all.  Humanity  rejoices  over  it,  as  much  as  she 
deplores  the  infernal  scenes  which  so  often  result  from 
the  rival  claims  of  nations  to  power  and  territorial  domi 
nion. 

The  political  results  of  the  recognition  of  Spanish 
America  by  England  are,  however,  those  which  fall 
more  immediately  under  our  present  consideration,  and, 
as  I  have  already  remarked,  are  of  such  importance,  that 
it  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  them  by  any  state 
ment,  however  highly  coloured.  To  the  new  govern 
ments  themselves,  this  event  is  only  second  in  interest  to 
the  prior  recognition  by  the  United  States,  upon  which 
I  shall  have  occasion  to  enlarge  hereafter,  and  which 
first  gave  them  ^full  assurance,  that  their  struggle  for 
emancipation  would  be  successful.  But  if  our  recogni 
tion  was  of  higher  value,  as  well  by  its  direct  operation 
as  by  its  effect  in  determining  that  of  England,  the  latter 
was  nevertheless  of  the  most  serious  consequence,  be 
cause  it  satisfied  the  continental  powers  that  they  could 
not  with  safety  interfere,  and  must  leave  Spain  to  her 
own  unassisted  strength.  To  the  United  States  it  was 
also  an  event  of  signal  interest,  inasmuch  as  it  confirmed 
and  established  the  new  condition  of  the  American  cbn- 
tinent,  and  with  it  the  pre-eminence  of  our  country,  as 
the  leading  American  power,  among  the  nations  of  the 
world.  If  therefore  this  measure  did  in  any  way  affect 
us  injuriously  in  an  economical  point  of  view,  which 
there  is  very  little  reason  to  suppose,  we  are  more  than 


53 

compensated  by  its  favourable  influence  upon  our  politi 
cal  importance  and  security.  To  England  herself  the 
adoption  of  this  policy  was  a  thing  of  such  moment,,  that 
it  was  almost  equivalent  in  its  consequences  to  a  geogra 
phical  removal  from  one  quarter  of  the  globe  to  the  other. 
Distrusted  by  the  continental  powers,  as  a  false  friend 
and  deserter  of  the  common  cause,  banished  from  their 
markets,  excluded  from  their  councils,  and  an  alien 
from  their  principles,  Great  Britain  seems  to  have  lost 
her  hold  on  the  other  world  in  which  she  is  situated,  and 
to  have  become  an  American  rather  than  a  European  state. 
We  find  accordingly  that  Mr.  Canning,  in  his  complimen 
tary  speech  addressed  to  our  countryman  Mr.  Hughes, 
at  a  public  dinner  at  Liverpool,  declared  without  scruple, 
that  the  mother  and  daughter,  meaning  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States,  were  now  to  stand  together  and 
make  head  against  the  rest  of  the  Christian  world. 
The  form  which  this  alliance  is  likely  to  assume 
(and  of  which  the  United  States  will  have  no  rea~ 
son  to  be  ashamed)  I  shall  have  occasion  to  exa 
mine,  in  the  course  of  the  present  volume.  As  to 
its  eifects  on  the  continental  powers,  the  recognition 
of  Spanish  America  by  England  struck  them  with 
a  feeling  of  consternation  and  disappointment,  which 
they  have  hardly  thought  it  worth  while  to  dissemble. 
It  defeated  their  secret  projects  of  ultimately  aiding 
Spain  in  the  war,  and  inspired  them  with  sad  forebo 
dings,  that  the  principle  of  liberty,  being  thus  firmly 
and  for  ever  established  in  the  new  world,  would  at 
some  future  period  exercise  a  fatal  reaction  upon  their 
own  unnatural  system.  Finally  this  event,  in  its  influ 


54 

ence  upon  the  whole  brotherhood  of  Christian  nations* 
considered  as  forming  one  vast  commonwealth,  and  in 
reference  to  the  principles  respectively  prevailing 
among  them,  strengthened  the  cause  of  freedom,  which 
was  before  perhaps  the  weaker  in  comparison  with  that 
of  despotism,  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  it  a  decided  and 
constantly  increasing  preponderance,  secured  the  pro 
gress  of  improvement  from  the  danger  of  future  inter 
ruption,  refreshed  the  hearts  of  the  friends  of  humanity, 
and  brightened  the  prospects  of  the  world.  For  these 
great  results,  we  are  no  doubt  chiefly  indebted  to  the 
ascendency  in  the  British  cabinet  of  the  powerful  and  ge 
nerous  mind  of  Mr.  Canning.  In  the  gratitude  we  feel  for 
these  signal  benefits  conferred  upon  the  whole  human 
race,  and  especially  upon  our  own  country  and  continent, 
we  may  venture  to  forget  our  old  quarrel  with  him, 
for  his  ill  timed  jest  upon  the  embargo,  more  particu 
larly  as  we  have  had  a  pretty  serious  revenge  upon  him 
for  it  at  Platsburgh,  Erie,  and  New  Orleans. 

Such  have  been  the  principal  events  of  the  last  five 
years,  in  the  two  political  divisions  of  Europe;  on  the 
continent,  the  overthrow  of  the  Spanish  Constitution, 
in  England  the  acknowledgment  of  American  Indepen 
dence.  Both  of  these  appeared  to  be,  at  the  moment 
of  their  occurrence,  the  results  of  tendencies,  that  were 
likely  to  operate  for  a  length  of  time  to  come,  and  to 
determine,  perhaps,  for  centuries,  the  aspect  of  the  re 
gions  where  they  happened.  Such,  however,  is  the 
instability  of  human  affairs,  that  before  these  events  are 
fairly  consummated,  while  the  French  troops  are  still 
occupying  Spain,  and  while  the  English  ministers  are 


55 

still  making  their  first  arrangements  with  the  new 
American  governments,  an  accident  happens  to  an 
individual  on  the  shore  of  a  solitary  sea,  in  a  remote 
corner  of  Europe,  which  threatened,  for  a  moment  at 
least,  to  unsettle  every  thing,  and  give  an  entirely  new 
form  to  the  political  affairs  of  the  world.  The  short  pe 
riod  of  confusion,  that  immediately  succeeded  the  first 
intelligence  of  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
has,  however,  passed  off,  without  any  very  important 
results  ;  nor  does  it  now  appear  that  any  such  will 
hereafter  follow  from  it.  It  is  nevertheless  in  itself  an 
occurrence  of  a  character  so  highly  interesting,  that  it 
seems  to  call  for  a  passing  notice  in  a  general  review  of 
political  events. 

The  mass  of  men,  who  are  fond  of  discovering  in  all 
extraordinary  accidents  the  signs  of  a  special  interpo 
sition  of  Providence,  and  who  considered  the  Emperor 
Alexander  as  responsible  in  part  for  the  singular  seve 
rity  with  which  Napoleon  was  treated  by  the  allies  af 
ter  his  final  fall,  have  been  disposed  to  regard  the  un 
timely  death  of  the  former,  in  the  peculiar  way  in 
which  it  took  place,  as  a  sort  of  judgment  upon  him, 
for  his  share  in  the  banishment  of  his  ancient  friend 
and  ally  to  St.  Helena.  There  is,  in  fact,  something 
singular,  in  the  resemblance  of  the  circumstances,  under 
which  these  two  individuals  ultimately  perished. 
Each,  after  wielding  in  turn  for  about  ten  years,  the 
sceptre  of  continental  Europe,  leaves  his  strong  castles 
and  splendid  palaces — his  court  and  his  army — all  the 
pride,  pomp,  and  circumstance  of  his  rank,  and  retires 
to  die  in  a  lonely  dwelling,  situated  in  a  distant  corner 


56 

of  the  globe,  with  no  Attendants  but  a  few  domestic 
servants  and  private  friends.  Alexander  was  at  least 
in  this  respect  more  fortunate  than  Napoleon,  that  his 
last  moments  were  soothed  by  the  presence  and  affec- 
tionate  endearments  of  his  wife.  It  must  be  owned, 
however,  that  this  supposed  similarity  of  the  circum 
stances  attending  their  deaths  was,  on  the  whole,  ra 
ther  superficial  than  real.  But,  however  much  alike 
their  positions  may  have  been,  at  certain  moments  of 
their  lives  and  at  leaving  of  them,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  mention  two  individuals,  who  have  exhibited  a  stron 
ger  contrast  of  personal  character.  The  Emperor 
Alexander  was  undoubtedly  by  no  means  free  from 
faults.  His  earlier  life  was  marked  by  doubtful  passa 
ges  of  a  very  serious  complexion.  In  his  later  years, 
he  adopted  erroneous  theories  on  government  and  re 
ligion,  which  greatly  affected  the  rectitude  of  his  pub 
lic  conduct ;  and  throughout  his  whole  career  his  do 
mestic  habits,  on  some  very  delicate  points,  if  we  would 
not  censure  him  too  severely,  must  be  judged  by  com 
parison  with  those  of  other  princes,  rather  than  by  the 
rules  of  strict  morality.  He  also  made  no  pretensions 
to  high  intellectual  powers  of  any  description,  nor  was 
the  want  of  brilliant  endowments  supplied  in  him  by 
the  presence  of  the  plainer  and  more  solid  qualities, 
that  serve  quite  as  well  for  the  practical  objects  of  life. 
He  was,  on  the  contrary,  rather  remarkable  for  his 
deficiency  in  sound  judgment  and  ordinary  good  sense. 
He  exhibited,  at  times,  but  little  discernment  in  the 
choice  of  his  associates ;  and,  as  he  advanced  in  life, 
fell  into  a  kind  of  feverish  and  mystical  enthusiasm, 


57 

i  hat  did  him  but  very  little  honour.  But  although  he 
was  thus  destitute  in  greater  or  less  degrees  of  many  of 
the  qualities,  that  go  to  form  an  elevated  character,  he 
possessed,  nevertheless,  virtues  of  a  high  order,  that 
served  in  some  measure  to  redeem  his  defects,  and  to 
give  him,  on  the  whole,  a  very  favourable  position  in 
the  eye  of  the  world.  He  had  talent  enough  to  make 
him  remarkable  among  his  brother  sovereigns,  and  to 
confer  upon  his  actions  an  air  of  independence  ;  and  by 
great  activity  and  industry,  he  made  the  most  of  the 
talent  he  had.  But  the  only  truly  brilliant  quality 
about  him,  was  the  nobleness  and  generosity  of  his  spi 
rit,  virtues  so  graceful  and  yet  so  rare  in  hereditary 
princes.  He  was  not  like  most  of  his  brother  mon- 
archs,  who,  like  the  arcadian  youth  in  Juvenal,  feel  no 
throbs  under  the  left  breast, — Iseva  sub  parte  mamillse 
nil  salit ; — nor  yet  like  Napoleon,  whose  heart,  accord 
ing  to  his  mother's  remark,  was  as  hard  as  one  of  his 
own  cannon  balls.  The  Emperor  Alexander  possessed 
a  real  heart  of  flesh  and  blood.  He  had  a  fund  of  un 
affected  goodness,  which  remained  uncorrupted  to  the 
last,  which  formed  the  charm  and  beauty  of  his  charac 
ter,  and  made  him  at  one  time  the  Titus  of  the  age  and 
the  delight  of  the  human  race.  We  saw  it  in  most  of 
his  domestic  relations,  where  real  charity  does  and  ought 
to  begin.  What  a  contrast  there  was  between  the  beau 
tiful  harmony  that  prevailed  in  the  imperial  family  of 
Russia,  and  the  wretched  wrangling  which  at  the  same 
time  constantly  disturbed  the  interior  of  the  Thuileries. 
While  Napoleon  would  not  allow  Madame  Mere,  as  he 
called  her,  to  sit  in  his  presence,  the  empress  mother 

8 


58 

was  worshipped  at  St.  Petersburgh  as  a  sort  of  divinity, 
by  all  her  sons,  the  emperor  among  the  first.  Neither 
was  faultless  in  his  nearest  family  connexion;  but  what 
a  difference  between  the  temporary  neglect  of  Alexan 
der,  while  the  ardour  of  youth  led  him  into  excesses, 
venial  if  ever  in  a  rank  like  his,  and  the  cold-blooded 
calculating  unkindness  of  Napoleon,  who,  for  reasons  of 
state,  could  put  away  for  ever,  and  bring  down  in  fact 
to  an  untimely  grave,  the  companion  of  his  life  and  the 
affectionate  partner  of  his  humbler  fortunes !  The  quar 
rels  of  the  latter  with  his  brothers,  were  the  scandal  of 
Europe,  while  the  world  in  regard  to  the  others  was 
ready  to  exclaim,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  "  Be 
hold  how  good  and  how  pleasant  a  thing  it  is,  for  bre 
thren  to  live  together  in  unity. "  But  the  generous 
spirit  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  extended  its  influence 
beyond  the  walls  of  his  palace,  and  gave  an  amiable  and 
elevated  cast  to  his  whole  deportment,  public  and  pri 
vate.  He  felt  a  real  sympathy  in  the  fortunes  and  con 
cerns  of  other  men,  and  was  fond  of  mingling  with  them 
on  equal  terms.  I  have  seen  him  repeatedly  in  the  streets 
of  St.  Petersburgh,  walking  unattended,  by  the  hour 
together,  and  conversing  familiarly  with  persons  of  all 
classes,  whom  he  happened  to  meet.  His  habits  were  the 
same  in  foreign  countries,  where  the  effect  of  them  was 
heightened  by  the  contrast  with  the  cold  and  stiff  man 
ner  of  the  sovereigns,  by  whom  he  was  generally  accom 
panied.  When  he  appeared  among  the  good  people  of 
Paris,  winning  their  hearts  with  his  charming  and  easy 
popularity,  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  bringing  them 
the  substantial  blessing  of  deliverance  from  military  des 


59 

potism,  they  forgot  for  the  moment  the  humiliation  of 
receiving  their  liberty  as  a  gift  from  a  foreigner,  and 
almost  looked  upon  his  presence  as  a  supernatural  inter 
vention  of  providence.  The  free  and  genial  warmth 
of  his  spirit  made  his  intellect  appear  to  greater  advan 
tage,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  actually  increased  his 
mental  powers;  for  what  we  call  understanding,  is  as 
much  the  result  of  moral  as  of  intellectual  qualities.  The 
political  nothingness  of  most  sovereigns,  and  the  pitiful 
emptiness  of  their  conversation,  do  not  perhaps  arise 
so  much  from  the  want  of  understanding  as  from  habitual 
subjection  to  form  and  etiquette.  The  Emperor  Alex 
ander  had  a  spirit  above  this.  He  did  not  think  it  ne 
cessary  to  confine  his  conversation  with  distinguished 
foreigners  to  a  few  paltry  remarks  upon  the  weather 
and  the  walk,  the  last  ball,  or  the  next  bull-fight.  He 
entered  boldly  into  the  general  field  of  observation,  and 
with  naturally  respectable  powers  and  an  excellent  edu 
cation,  in  addition  to  the  prestiges  of  his  rank  and  title 
to  heighten  the  effect  of  what  he  said,  he  acquitted  him 
self  in  such  a  way,  that  he  had  no  reason  to  repent  of  his 
temerity. 

It  belongs,  perhaps,  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  of  America  to  do  full  justice  to  the  character  of 
this  prince,  since  whatever  he  may  have  been  to  other 
nations,  he  was  to  us  a  true  friend  in  more  than  mere 
profession.  He  proved  himself  a  most  important  and 
useful  ally,  at  the  critical  epoch  of  the  late  war,  and  in 
consideration  of  this,  we  ought  not  to  think  too  hardly 
of  him,  for  employing  a  cypher  or  two  more  than  was 
necessary,  in  stating  the  extent  of  his  jurisdiction  over 


60 

the  Pacific  ocean.     It  would  be  useless,  however,  to  at 
tempt  to  conceal  his  errors,  which  arose  in  part  from  the 
same  qualities  that  formed  the  principle  of  his  best  vir 
tues.  The  freedom  and  activity  of  his  spirit,  while  they 
greatly  increased  his  influence  and  reputation,  were 
also  the  immediate  causes  of  some  very  dangerous  mis 
takes.     Great  activity  generally  implies  on  occasions, 
inconsistency  and  fickleness  of  purpose ;  and  the  empe 
ror  appears  accordingly  to  have  had  no  principle  suffi 
ciently  stable,  to  resist  the  current  of  adverse  circum 
stances,  or  the  seduction  of  immediate  interest.     He 
commenced  his  reign  with  the  most  liberal  feelings  and 
intentions,  and  ended  it  by  establishing  the  military  co 
lonies — the  most  illiberal  and  at  the  same  time  economi 
cally  impolitic  and  impracticable  institution,  that  was 
ever  deliberately  adopted  in  any  age  or  nation.     At  one 
!   time,  he  favoured  the   introduction  of  representative 
constitutions  in  foreign  countries,  founded  one,  at  least 
in  form,  in  his  own  kingdom  of  Poland,  and  gave  out 
that  he  intended  to  do  the  same  in  Russia.  A  few  years 
after,  we  see  him  crushing  these  constitutions  by  force  of 
arms  in  several  parts  of  Europe,  out  of  complaisance  to 
the  empty  theories  of  a  few  interested  declaimers ;  and 
lending  his  influence,  fortunately  without  the  same  suc 
cess,  to  perpetuate  the  reign  of  superstition  and  mili 
tary  despotism  over  the  vast  and  wealthy  regions  of  the 
new  world.     While,  therefore,  we  acknowledge  and  do 
full  justice  to  his  amiable  qualities,  while  we  admit  that 
he  possessed  the  charity,  that  covers  a  multitude  of  sins, 
we  have  little  cause,  as  friends  of  liberty,  to  regret  his 
tleath.  His  opinions  and  feelings  had  taken  a  false  direc- 


61 

tion,  from  which  there  is  no  probability  that  they  would 
ever  have  returned ;  and  under  these  circumstances  it 
may  almost  be  said,  that  his  very  virtues  and  graces 
were  dangerous  to  the  cause  of  humanity.  But  not  to 
dwell  too  long  either  on  his  frailties  or  his  merits,  and 
leaving  them  both  to  the  award  of  that  great  power  to 
whom  alone  he  would  own  himself  to  be  accountable  for 
his  actions,  let  us  follow  his  remains  from  the  remote 
and  solitary  shore  where  his  spirit  took  its  flight,  to  the 
splendid  abode  of  his  living  greatness,  and  consider  for 
a  moment  the  political  effects  of  his  sudden  and  unex 
pected  death. 

This  event  is  still  so  recent,  and  was  followed  imme 
diately  by  consequences  of  so  singular  a  character,  that 
it  is  rather  early  to  attempt  to  anticipate  its  remote  re 
sults.  It  displayed  to  the  world  the  uncommon  spectacle 
of  two  brothers,  contending  with  each  other  for  the  pri 
vilege,  not  of  possessing,  but  of  resigning  the  empire 
of  a  quarter  of  the  globe.  There  was  possibly  at  bottom 
something  less  of  disinterestedness  on  both  sides,  than 
appeared  in  mere  outward  show ;  but  there  is,  never 
theless,  a  charm  and  beauty  in  the  external  forms  of 
generosity,  which  make  them  in  the  highest  degree 
valuable,  even  where  the  substance  is  wanting.  That 
it  was  in  this  case  altogether  wanting,  is,  however,  far 
from  being  evident.  The  Grand  Duke  Constantine  may 
have  originally  waved  his  pretensions  to  the  crown,  from 
other  motives  than  those  which  are  assigned  in  his  pub 
lic  letters ;  but  there  was  nothing  in  fact  or  in  right  to 
prevent  him  from  asserting  them,  had  he  thought  pro 
per  to  do  so  after  his  brother's  death ;  and  although 


62 

prudence  as  well  as  fraternal  affection  would  have  die- 
tated  the  conduct  of  Nicholas,  it  is  still  impossible  not 
to  see  something  better  in  it,  than  in  the  greedy  eager 
ness  with  which  sceptres  have  been  generally  grasped, 
by  all  who  had  any  pretext  for  laying  hands  upon  them. 
It  is  impossible  not  to  consider  the  uncommon  self  com 
mand  and  mutual  respect  and  kindness  of  these  rival 
brothers,  as  in  part  effects  and  proofs  of  the  unprece 
dented  harmony,  that  has  for  some  time  past  prevailed 
among  the  members  of  the  imperial  family  of  Russia, 
and  which  is  generally  attributed,  in  a  great  degree, 
to  the  ascendency  over  her  children  of  the  commanding 
and  amiable  character  of  the  empress  mother.  The  result 
of  this  forbearance,  whatever  may  have  been  its  cause, 
was  undoubtedly  the  prevention  of  a  civil  war,  which, 
under  the  complicated  circumstances  of  the  case,  could 
hardly  have  been  avoided,  had  the  rival  candidates  for 
the  crown  displayed  the  spirit  that  generally  belongs  to 
that  position. 

This  new  form  of  fraternal  competition,  somewhat 
different  from  the  famous  example  of  the  Theban  bro 
thers,  was  not  the  only  interesting  accident  that  attend 
ed  the  change  in  the  person  of  the  emperor.  While 
these  edifying  scenes  were  in  progress,  others  of  an 
opposite  character  were  opening  upon  the  same  theatre. 
It  appears  that  a  vast  conspiracy  against  the  life  of  the 
emperor,  and  the  present  form  of  government,  had  been 
lurking  in  the  heart  of  the  empire,  had  spread  very 
extensively  through  the  army,  and  included  many  dis 
tinguished  and  wealthy  individuals.  Such  are  the  state 
ments  of  the  government  itself,  which  has  certainly  no 


63 

interest  in  exaggerating  the  mischief.  It  is  rather  a 
strange  coincidence,  and  one  that  would  almost  lead  to 
some  dark  surmises  respecting  the  mode  of  the  late  em 
peror's  death,  that  it  appears  to  have  been  a  part  of  the 
plot  to  assassinate  him,  while  on  his  journey  to  the  south, 
and  in  the  section  of  the  country  where  he  actually 
died.  Whatever  may  be  the  truth  in  regard  to  this 
point,  it  is  evident  beyond  dispute,  from  the  fearful 
revelations  which  have  been  made  upon  this  occasion, 
that  the  machinery  of  despotism,  however  effectually  it 
may  operate  in  checking  the  publicity  of  thought  and 
feeling,  cannot  prevent  their  action ;  and  that  discon 
tent,  though  hidden  from  the  eye  of  the  world  by  the 
impenetrable  covering  of  the  police  and  the  censure, 
assumes  at  least  as  dangerous  a  form,  as  when  it  evapo 
rates  in  newspaper  essays  and  popular  harangues.  The 
results  of  this  plot  are  far  from  being  yet  entirely  dis 
closed.  It  evidently  struck  the  government,  as  well  it 
might,  with  the  deepest  consternation ;  and  there  was 
for  some  time  a  singular  vacillation,  probably  occasioned 
by  it,  in  regard  to  some  very  important  matters.  No 
less  than  three  different  resolutions  appear  to  have  been 
taken  upon  the  subject  of  the  military  colonies,  within 
the  same  number  of  weeks  after  the  accession  of  Nico 
las.  One  of  the  very  first  official  papers  printed  after 
the  event,  was  a  report  from  Count  Arakchief,  the  su- 
perintendant  of  these  colonies,  in  which  he  declared  open 
ly  against  them,  as  having  completely  failed  in  their 
objects,  and  as  being  in  every  way  useless  and  injurious. 
This  report  must  be  presumed  not  to  have  been  disa 
greeable  to  the  government  at  the  moment  when  they 


64 

ordered  its  publication.  But  about  a  week  after,  there 
appeared  in  the  official  gazette  a  letter  signed  •  by  the 
emperor,  and  addressed  to  this  same  Count  Arakchief, 
highly  commending  the  institution  of  the  military  colo 
nies  and  the  manner  in  which  they  had  been  managed, 
and  ordering  the  count  to  proceed  in  the  same  course 
which  he  had  pursued  under  the  late  sovereign.  A  few 
days  elapsed,  and  it  was  officially  announced  that  the 
superintendance  of  the  military  colonies  was  intrusted  to 
Count  Diebitch,  and  that  Count  Arakchief  had  obtained 
permission  to  travel  for  his  health.  The  secret  of  these 
enigmatical  proceedings  is  not  yet  known;  but  they 
have  probably  some  connexion,  more  or  less  remote, 
with  the  conspiracy.  Whether  other  consequences  of 
still  greater  moment  may  not  yet  grow  out  of  it,  is  still 
uncertain.  Will  it  be  completely  stifled  and  crushed 
without  producing  any  serious  commotion  in  the  em 
pire?  Will  the  emperor  think  it  expedient  to  employ 
his  discontented  troops  abroad,  in  order  to  keep  them 
out  of  mischief  at  home,  and  determine  to  assist  the 
Greeks,  when  all  better  motives  have  failed,  from  mere 
self-interest?  The  British  cabinet,  which  under  the 
influence  of  some  strange  fatality  has  been  so  long  coun 
teracting  the  cause  of  liberty  in  Greece,  appears  to  be 
alarmed  at  the  favourable  prospect  held  out  by  the  pre 
sent  state  of  Russia,  and  has  despatched  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  to  St.  Petersburgh,  at  once  to  compliment 
the  emperor  upon  his  accession  and  to  frighten  him  into 
keeping  the  peace  with  Turkey. 

It  would  lead  me  too  far,  however,  from  my  imme 
diate  subject,  to   examine  the   probability  of  a   war 


bet  ween  Russia  and  Turkey,  or  its  influence,  if  it  should 
occur,  upon  the  politics  of  Europe  and  the  world ;  nor 
is  the  subject  in  fact  sufficiently  mature  to  be  treated  yet 
in  detail.  It  belongs  more  properly  to  some  future  chap 
ter  in  political  history.  Laying  this  question  entirely 
out  of  view,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  change  in  the 
person  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  considered  under  any 
of  its  other  aspects,  is  likely  to  affect  materially  the  na 
ture  of  the  influence  exercised  by  that  country.  This 
will  probably  still  be  exerted  as  before,  in  favour  of 
what  has  been  called  by  courtesy,  legitimacy,  and 
against  the  cause  of  liberty  and  good  government 
throughout  the  world.  Even  should  a  civil  war  grow 
out  of  the  controversy  respecting  the  succession  or  the 
conspiracy,  it  does  not  appear  that  such  an  event  would 
in  any  degree  diminish  the  power  of  the  empire,  or 
make  it  less  formidable  to  the  independence  or  welfare 
of  the  rest  of  Europe.  A  military  monarchy  is  in  fact 
never  more  formidable,  because  its  principle  is  never 
more  active,  than  when  it  is  distracted  by  internal  con 
vulsions.  These  are  constantly  developing  by  exer 
cise  the  highest  talents,  which  are  first  sharpened  by 
contention  with  each  other,  and  then,  as  soon  as  a  mo 
ment's  breathing  time  occurs  at  home,  are  turned  with 
a  sort  of  fury  against  every  thing  that  comes  within 
their  reach  abroad.  A  civil  war  in  Russia  would  very 
probably  give  to  that  empire  the  only  element  which  it 
wants,  I  mean  an  ambitious,  ardent,  and  successful  mi 
litary  chieftain,  in  order  to  effect  the  conquest  of  the 
whole  of  Europe.  We  should  probably  see,  in  that  case, 
some  Muscovite  Caesar  subjugating  Gaul,  in  order  to 

9 


66 

reign  with  more  security  at  home,  or  carrying  his  ar 
mies  in  pursuit  of  some  new  Sertorius  beyond  the  Py 
renees.  The  sphere  of  Russia  is  now  so  vast  that  it 
comprehends  the  entire  continent ;  and  her  battles  are 
as  likely  to  be  fought  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  or  the 
Danube,  as  of  the  Volga.  If,  however,  nothing  of  all 
this  should  take  place  at  present,  and  the  internal  tran 
quillity  of  the  empire  should  remain  undisturbed,  the 
new  administration  will  be  only  a  continuation  of  the 
last,  and  the  same  general  course  of  opposition  to  liberal 
principles  and  of  the  extension  of  the  ascendancy  of 
Russia  over  the  rest  of  Europe  will  be  pursued  in  a  more 
quiet,  and  of  course,  perhaps,  in  the  end,  a  more  effec 
tual  way,  than  it  could  be  in  the  tumult  and  fury  of  civil 
and  foreign  war. 

Such  are  the  principal  events  that  have  occurred  in 
Europe  within  the  last  five  years.  It  will  have  been 
seen  that  they  are  by  no  means  of  an  ordinary  charac 
ter.  But  important  and  interesting  as  they  are,  they 
dwindle  into  nothing,  by  the  side  of  the  mighty  revolu 
tions,  of  which,  during  the  same  period  of  time,  oui*  own 
continent  has  been  the  theatre ;  and  which,  whether  we 
consider  their  immense  present  magnitude  or  their  still 
more  imposing  future  results,  have  no  parallel  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  During  this  interval,  the  bound 
less  regions  of  Spanish  America  have  completed  their 
emancipation  from  the  government  of  the  parent  coun 
try;  and  our  own  United  States  have  taken  the  stand 
which  they  are  henceforth  and  for  ever  to  occupy,  in 
the  political  system  of  Christendom.  What  volumes  of 
detail  are  comprehended  in  these  few  lines !  How  insig- 


67 

nificant  do  the  events  of  former  times  appear,  by  the 
side  of  those  which  this  new  epoch  must  bring  to  light! 
How  confined  the  sphere  on  which  the  most  distinguish 
ed  actors  in  those  events  performed  their  parts,  com 
pared  with  the  present  political  theatre,  which  has  no 
limits  but  those  of  the  globe !  Is  it  too  much  to  anti 
cipate  that  the  minds,  which  are  to  figure  upon  this 
more  extended  field  of  action,  before  this  enlarged  circle 
of  observers,  will  be  moved  by  purer  and  nobler  views, 
and  rise  to  loftier  heights  of  patriotism  and  virtue,  than 
those  which  preceded  them  ?  May  we  not  hope  at  least 
that  the  new  world  will  continue  to  produce  Washingtons, 
instead  of  Cromwells  and  Bonapartes ;  and  Adamses, 
Franklins,  and  Jeffersons,  instead  of  Machiavels  and 
Mirabeaus?  Certainly  the  present  appearances  tend  to 
encourage  very  strongly  these  ideas,  and  to  cheer  the 
hearts  of  the  lovers  of  our  race  with  delightful  visions 
of  the  future. 

To  comment,  however  imperfectly,  upon  the  great 
events  to  which  I  have  just  alluded,  in  connexion  with 
the  present  state  of  the  regions  in  which  they  have  oc 
curred,  will  be  the  principal  object  of  the  present 
volume;  and  the  branch  of  this  inquiry,  which  naturally 
first  claims  our  attention,  is  the  situation  of  our  own 
country,  which  I  shall  accordingly  proceed  to  examine 
in  the  following  chapter. 


68 


CHAPTER  III. 

United  States  of  America. — Form  and  Spirit  of  their 
Political  Institutions. 

THE  extraordinary  success  which  has  thus  far  attend 
ed  the  political  career  of  the  United  States,  has  natu 
rally  excited  throughout  the  world  a  strong  interest 
respecting  the  forms  of  their  social  institutions,  accom 
panied  with  a  general  prepossession  in  their  favour,  in 
the  minds  of  reflecting  and  unprejudiced  inquirers.  It 
is  known  and  admitted  by  all  such  persons,  that  the 
welfare  of  nations  depends  almost  wholly  upon  the  na 
ture  of  their  governments.  When,  therefore,  a  nation 
prospers  for  a  length  of  time,  in  a  very  remarkable  way, 
the  conclusion  is,  that  the  government  is  uncommonly 
good.  If  it  be  in  form  entirely  new,  the  friends  of  hu 
manity  and  the  students  of  political  science  are  led  to 
examine  it  with  great  curiosity  and  attention,  in  order 
to  ascertain  its  principles  and  peculiar  virtues,  for  the 
purpose  of  applying  them  to  the  advancement  of  know 
ledge  and  the  profit  of  other  countries.  We  find, 
accordingly,  that,  since  the  close  of  the  late  convulsions 
afforded  the  observers  of  Europe  an  opportunity  of 
directing  their  attention  to  objects  of  remote  and  general 
interest,  they  have  been  very  much  occupied  in  exa 
mining  the  situation  and  political  institutions  of  the 


69 

United  States ;  and  the  opinions  which  are  expressed 
upon  the  subject,  by  the  most  distinguished  authorities 
among  them,  are  for  the  most  part  highly  favourable  , 
and  satisfactory.  We  have  found,  it  is  true,  but  little 
favour  in  the  eyes  of  sundry  respectable  mechanics  and 
tradesmen,  who  came  out  from  the  mother  country  to 
sell  their  wares,  and  made,  on  their  return,  but  a  mea 
gre  report  of  the  state  of  our  religion,  government, 
morals,  and  manners,  perhaps  because  they  found  our 
markets  somewhat  better  stocked  than  they  expected. 
But  with  all  the  regret  that  we  naturally  feel  at  not 
having  given  satisfaction  to  these  honest  people,  it  is 
some  consolation  that  even  in  Great  Britain  such  minds 
as  those  of  Burke,  Fox,  Mackintosh,  Canning,  Brougham, 
Jeffrey,  and  others  of  the  same  class,  have  seen  something 
to  admire,  as  well  as  something  at  times  to  condemn,  in 
our  institutions  and  history ;  and  have  honoured  us  with 
their  friendly  dispositions  and  occasional  discerning  ap 
probation.  On  the  continent  of  Europe,  there  is  also  a 
general  impression  in  favour  of  our  country;  not  result 
ing  from  accidental  sympathies,  but  common  to  various 
parties,  and  shared  by  almost  all  impartial  and  reflecting 
men.  The  Germans,  in  particular,  have  given  much 
attention  to  the  United  States,  and  have  always  regard 
ed  them  with  peculiar  good  will.  It  was  predicted  by 
the  celebrated  Herder,  that  the  eighteenth  century 
would  be  known  hereafter  in  history,  as  the  age  of 
Washington  and  Franklin.  Schmidt- Phiseldeck,  no 
bigotted  republican,  since  he  has  written  a  work  ex 
pressly  to  defend  and  vindicate  the  principles  of  the 
holy  alliance,  opens  one  of  his  books,  by  remarking  that 


70 

the  fourth  of  July,  1776,  was  the  commencement  of  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  the  world.  In  France,  the 
other  great  intellectual  section  of  the  continent,  the 
judgments  are  equally  favourable.  The  opinions  of  the 
Constants,  the  Guizots,  the  De  Staels,  the  Lafayettes, 
are  too  well  known  to  require  being  stated  in  detail ; 
but  it  may  be  worth  remarking,  that  the  Vicomte  de 
Chateaubriand,  not  less  decided  as  a  constitutional  roy 
alist,  than  distinguished  as  a  writer  and  philosopher, 
declared  in  his  late  Note  on  Greece,  that  the  representa 
tive  republic,  of  which  the  United  States  have  given  the 
world  the  first  example,  is  the  most  splendid  discovery 
of  modern  times.The  great  political  economist  Say,as  com 
petent  a  judge  as  perhaps  any  living  individual,  extends 
to  the  administration  of  the  government  the  approba 
tion,  which  the  others  have  bestowed  upon  its  princi 
ples  ;  and  exclaims,  in  his  well  known  work,  in  allusion 
to  the  United  States — "  What  a  comfort  it  is  to  find  at 
least  one  nation  acting  uniformly  in  obedience  to  the 
dictates  of  humanity  and  justice !" — I  quote  these  fa 
vourable  opinions  of  distinguished  foreigners,  not  for  the 
purpose  of  fostering  an  overweening  national  vanity, 
but  in  order  to  show  that  the  strong  predilection  we 
feel  at  home  for  our  political  institutions,  is  not  the 
effect  of  prejudice  or  ignorance,  and  that  similar  ideas 
are  also  entertained  by  the  best  judges  and  most  eminent 
men  in  other  quarters  of  the  globe.  Time  has  in  fact 
already  stamped  our  government  with  the  seal  of  tried 
and  approved  excellence.  It  has  now  existed  half  a 
century, — the  age  of  the  British  constitution,  dating  it 
from  1688,  when  it  received  the  splendid  eulogium 


71 

which  Montesquieu  passed  upon  it  in  his  Spirit  of  Laws. 
Ours  has  carried  us  triumphantly  through  dangerous 
periods  of  intestine  divisions  and  foreign  war.  Under 
its  benign  influence  we  have  doubled  our  territory, 
quadrupled  our  population,  centupled,  if  I  may  use 
such  a  word,  our  wealth  and  influence ;  and  at  the  close 
of  this  first  jubilee  of  our  political  existence,  we  have 
the  proud  satisfaction  of  being  able  to  look  backwards 
on  a  course  of  more  brilliant  success,  and  forward  on  a 
fairer  prospect  of  future  greatness  and  glory,  than  ever 
fell  to  the  lot  of  any  nation  upon  earth  before.  A  go 
vernment  that  affords  such  results  may  well  be  expected 
to  excite  attention  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  constitutions  of  the  United  States,  like  that  of 
England,  which  furnished  in  part  the  model  of  them, 
have  been  more  admired  and  praised,  than  studied  in 
the  abstract  or  examined  in  a  scientific  way.  It  is  true 
that  the  subject  very  frequently  comes  up  in  debate,  as 
well  in  congress  as  in  the  legislatures  of  the  different 
states,  and  that  libraries  have  been  written  and  pub 
lished,  upon  the  construction  of  the  constitution,  in  the 
shape  of  speeches  and  newspaper  essays.  These  dis 
sertations,  however,  with  some  exceptions,  have  in  ge 
neral  but  little  permanent  value ;  not  merely  because 
they  are  for  the  most  part  tinctured  with  personal  and 
party  prejudices,  but  because,  independently  of  this 
objection,  they  are  almost  always  formed  upon  a  partial 
and  imperfect  view  of  the  system.  Of  the  more  deli 
berate  treatises  that  have  appeared  upon  this  great 
subject,  two  have  attained  a  high  degree  of  reputation, 
and  are  justly  entitled  to  it,  as  well  by  the  authority  of 


their  writers,  as  by  their  own  intrinsic  value;  1  mean 
the  Defence  of  the  Constitution,  by  President  Adams, 
and  the  Federalist.  Both  these  works  may  now  be  re 
garded  as  classical ;  and  are  equal  perhaps,  as  scientific 
essays  on  the  subjects  of  which  they  treat,  to  any  pro 
ductions  of  the  kind  in  the  language.  They  are  in  some 
measure  complements  to  each  other,  and  form  together 
a  full  commentary  on  our  political  system.  The  work 
of  President  Adams,  which  was  written  before  the 
adoption  of  the  federal  constitution,  is  devoted  to  an 
examination  of  those  of  the  states,  and  of  the  general 
principles  of  our  government,  while  the  Federalist  is 
merely  a  commentary  on  the  instrument  of  union.  After 
a  complete  survey  of  the  subject  by  these  illustrious 
authors,  summi  auctores,  it  may  be  thought,  perhaps, 
that  little  remains  to  be  said ;  and  it  may  even  appear 
presumptuous  to  undertake  to  add  any  thing  to  their 
weighty  and  mature  suggestions.  I  trust,  however, 
that  the  few  hasty  observations  which  I  shall  now  offer, 
limited  as  well  by  the  character  of  the  present  essay,  as 
by  other  more  imperious  motives,  will  not  expose  me  to 
such  a  charge.  The  works  to  which  I  have  now  alluded 
were  both  published  about  forty  years  ago,  and  the 
eventful  period  which  has  since  elapsed  may  have  varied 
a  little  the  point  of  view,  under  which  we  consider  cer 
tain  subjects,  or  may  have  made  familiar  some  notions 
which  were  formerly  less  obvious.  If  there  be  any  value 
in  the  following  remarks,  it  will  be  owing  entirely  to  the 
effect  of  this  circumstance.  In  the  present  chapter,  I 
shall  first  sketch  out,  in  a  very  general  way,  the  theory 
of  the  constitution  as  I  conceive  it,  and  then  inquire  into 


73 

the  securities  we  have  for  the  continuance  of  its  present 
state  of  purity. 

The  constitution  of  a  country  is  a  thing  upon  which 
many  persons  write  and  reason  with  great  freedom, 
without  sufficiently  considering  the  full  extent  of  the 
term.  By  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  for 
example,  we  generally  mean  the  written  instrument  to 
which  this  title  is  affixed ;  and  this  is,  no  doubt,  taken 
separately  and  distinctly  from  every  thing  else,  a  very 
important  subject  for  consideration.  But  if  the  object 
be  to  acquire  a  distinct  notion  of  the  form  and  spirit  of 
the  government  under  which  we  live,  we  must  take 
into  view  the  whole  mass  of  our  political  institutions ; 
and  in  this  case,  the  federal  constitution,  though  the 
first  and  highest  in  value  of  the  written  acts  and  monu 
ments  that  compose  this  mass,  is  far  from  being  the  only 
thing  that  calls  for  attention.  Besides  this  charter,  there 
are  four  and  twenty  others,  each  of  which,  though  less 
important  to  the  nation  at  large,  is  even  of  more  direct 
and  daily  value  to  the  state  on  which  it  operates,  than 
the  common  covenant  of  union.  But  this  is  not  all. 
.Besides  the  five  and  twenty  constitutions,  we  must  take 
into  view  the  statutes  of  congress  and  of  the  several  state 
governments,  and  add  to  these  the  common  law  of  the 
land,  which  forms  in  every  state  the  basis  of  the  local 
jurisprudence,  and  which  comprehends,  with  the  modi 
fications  under  which  they  have  been  applied  in  this 
country,  the.  whole  law  of  England  in  its  various 
branches  of  common,  statute,  feudal,  chancery,  admi 
ralty,  and  so  forth ;  the  civil  and  canon  law,  the  law  of 
nature  and  nations,  and,  as  a  sanction  to  the  whole,  the 

10 


74 

truths  of  natural  and  revealed  religion.  The  constitu 
tion  of  this  country,  therefore,  taken  in  its  broad  and 
proper  signification,  is  a  very  extensive  code,  includ 
ing  a  variety  of  titles,  of  which  the  covenant  of 
union  is  only  one.  I  say  not  this  for  the  purpose  of 
depreciating  the  importance  of  the  federal  constitution, 
upon  which,  as  will  appear  from  the  sequel  of  these  re 
marks,  I  set  as  high  a  value  as  any  one  can.  It  is  in 
fact  the  key- stone  of  our  social  arch,  which  crowns  and 
consolidates  the  whole  multifarious  mass  of  materials, 
and  infuses  a  principle  of  strength  and  order  into  what 
would  otherwise  be  a  mere  chaos. 

All  important  as  this  instrument  is,  as  the  necessary 
condition  of  our  liberty  and  national  existence,  it  is  still, 
however^  not  the  only  thing  we  have  of  value ;  and  there 
are  several  subjects  of  essential  moment,  that  are  not 
even  touched  upon  in  this  our  great  charter.  The  prin 
ciples,  for  example,  that  regulate  the  tenure  and  trans 
fer  of  property,  particularly  land,  exercise  beyond  a 
doubt  more  influence  upon  the  character  and  happiness 
of  nations,  than  any  other  part  of  their  political  institu 
tions.  They  are  not  mentioned  in  the  federal  constitu 
tion.  The  punishment  of  crimes  is  left,  with  some  ex 
ceptions,  to  the  states ;  and  the  direct  protection  of  our 
personal  rights  is  still  committed,  almost  wholly,  to  the 
common  law  of  the  land.  These  momentous  subjects 
must  nevertheless  be  studied,  if  we  wish  to  obtain  a  com 
plete  and  exact  idea  of  our  political  institutions ;  for  how 
could  a  correct  opinion  be  formed  upon  the  nature  of 
the  government  of  a  country,  without  a  knowledge  of 
the  state  of  property  and  the  securities  of  personal 


75 

rights?  If  the  practical  truths  and  rules  that  belong  to 
each  of  these  various  titles,  were  any  where  stated 
with  the  same  beautiful  precision  and  simplicity  that 
distinguish  the  federal  constitution,  the  task  of  the  stu 
dent  would  be  comparatively  light ;  but  this  is  far  from 
being  the  case.  Truth,  the  law,  the  constitution,  must 
be  discovered  under  most  of  these  heads,  by  long  and 
laborious  research ;  must  be  pursued  through  mazes  of 
controversy,  wilds  of  speculation,  mines  of  literature. 
Consider,  for  example,  what  masses  of  materials  must  be 
employed  in  order  to  ascertain  the  common  law  of  Eng 
land,  which  is  yet  only  one  of  the  titles  or  component 
parts  of  the  common  law  of  each  of  our  states.  Lord 
Coke  assures  us,  that  even  the  obscurity  of  the  common 
law,  great  as  it  is,  is  broad  daylight  compared  with  the 
Cimmerian  darkness  that  envelopes  the  British  statutes ; 
and  yet  these,  with  our  own  five  and  twenty  collections 
at  the  end  of  them,  not  to  speak  of  territorial  and  dis 
trict  enactments,  are  among  the  lighter  labours  of  our 
political  student.  What  patience  is  necessary,  what 
libraries  must  be  explored,  in  pursuing  the  progress  and 
development  of  the  Roman  jurisprudence,  from  its  rude 
elements  in  the  twelve  tables  of  the  Decemvirs,  down 
to  its  last  and  most  perfect  form  in  the  code  Napoleon ! 
How  comprehensive  is  the  law  of  nature  and  nations, 
including  as  it  does  the  great  sciences  of  politics,  morals, 
and  political  economy,  together  with  the  whole  compass 
of  history  as  evidence  of  usage !  These  must  all  be 
mastered.  Finally,  religion,  natural  and  revealed,  the 
most  extensive  and  difficult  subject  upon  which  the 
human  mind  can  be  employed,  has  been  declared  by 


76 

the  competent  authorities  to  be  parcel  of  the  common 
law ;  and  is  of  course,  from  its  nature,  a  most  important 
parcel  of  every  composition  into  which  it  enters.  Such 
being  the  compass  and  variety  of  the  elements  that  make 
up  our  political  institutions,  it  is  evidently  not  so  easy 
and  simple  a  task  as  is  sometimes  supposed,  to  become 
acquainted  with  their  form  and  spirit ;  and  it  certainly 
requires  much  more  than  the  half- hour's  labour  neces 
sary  for  the  perusal  of  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

In  this,  however,  a&  in  other  cases,  the  machinery 
works  in  detail,  under  the  operation  of  a  few  powerful 
springs,  which  create  and  determine  the  movement  of 
all  the  parts.  It  may  be  possible,  perhaps,  to  have  some 
general  conception  of  the  nature  of  these,  without  pos 
sessing  a  thorough  knowledge  of  all  or  any  of  the  vari 
ous  divisions  of  our  constitutional  law ;  and  it  is  to  this 
part  of  the  subject  only,  that  the  limits  of  the  present 
essay  will  allow  me  to  devote  any  attention. 

The  fundamental  principle,  or,  to  keep  up  the  meta 
phor,  the  mainspring  of  our  political  machine  to  which 
all  others  are  subordinate  and  secondary,  is  the  sove 
reignty  of  the  people.  In  most  other  nations,  the  right 
of  administering  the  common  concerns,  or  in  other  words, 
of  making  and  enacting  laws,  is  said  to  reside  either  in 
some  family,  possessing  it  by  inheritance,  as  in  absolute 
monarchies ;  or  in  a  class  of  families  holding  it  in  the 
same  way,  as  in  aristocracies;  or  to  be  shared  unequally 
among  the  different  individuals  or  families  composing 
the  community,  as  in  mixed  governments,  in  which  a 
single  family  is  said  to  enjoy  by  inheritance,  a  large 


77 

share  of  this  right,  a  class  of  other  families  another  large 
share,  while  the  body  of  the  people  possess  the  remain 
der.  The  superiority  of  our  system,  considered  as  a 
theory,  is  sufficiently  obvious,  or  at  least  does  not  re 
quire  to  be  defended  by  argument  before  the  American 
public.  In  fact  the  burden  of  proof  lies  in  this  case  on 
the  other  side.  That  the  affairs  of  every  association, 
political,  economical,  literary,  or  religious,  should  be 
managed  under  the  joint  direction  of  all  the  members, 
and  not  by  any  other  person  or  by  any  one  or  more 
members  to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest,  is  a  proposition  so 
plainly  consonant  with  common  sense  and  common  right, 
that  it  would  be  thought  madness,  rather  than  mistake, 
to  deny  it  in  the  abstract.  If  then  it  be  affirmed,  that 
this  principle,  though  true  in  every  other  case,  is  false 
in  its  application  to  government ;  and  that,  in  every  po 
litical  association,  there  is  to  be  found  some  one  family 
or  families  endowed  by  nature  with  a  right  to  manage 
the  concerns  of  the  rest,  it  belongs  to  the  person  making 
this  assertion  to  prove  it,  and  to  show  us  in  every  nation 
this  ruling  race,  which  come  into  the  world  with  crowns 
on  their  heads  and  sceptres  in  their  hands.  Until  this 
can  be  done,  as  long  as  men  are  born  politically  free  and 
equal,  we  shall  continue  to  regard  the  leading  axiom  of 
our  government  above  alluded  to,  not  only  as  true,  but 
as  it  is  said  to  be  in  the  declaration  of  independence, 
self  evident.  The  same  principle  is  sometimes  expressed 
in  other  forms,  as  when  we  say  that  the  will  of  the  peo 
ple  is  the  legitimate  source  of  power,  and  that  the  voice 
of  the  people  is  the  voice  of  God.  It  is  not  meant  by 
these  assertions,  as  some  affect  to  suppose,  that  the  opi- 


78 

nion  of  the  members  of  any  one  political  society  fixes 
the  natural  distinction  of  right  and  wrong.  This  has 
been  done  once  for  all  and  for  ever,  by  the  great  sove 
reign  of  the  universe.  The  office  of  human  sovereign 
ties  is  to  declare  these  distinctions,  for  the  use  of  the 
community,  and  enforce,  as  far  as  possible,  the  conduct 
corresponding  with  them ;  and  the  right  of  doing  this, 
as  of  managing  all  other  matters  of  common  concern, 
belongs,  in  the  last  resort,  to  the  members  of  each  com 
munity,  that  is,  to  the  body  of  the  people.  To  say  that 
the  people  may  sometimes  be  mistaken,  and  declare  as 
a  rule  of  conduct  some  principle,  which  a  better  under 
standing  of  natural  law  would  reprove,  is  only  saying 
in  other  words,  that  men  are  not  angels.  This  we  know. 
But  as  the  body  of  the  people,  though  subject  to  error, 
intellectual  and  moral,  possess,  notwithstanding,  in  eve 
ry  political  society,  to  the  exclusion  of  any  other  human 
power,  the  right  of  proclaiming  and  enforcing  the  prin 
ciples  of  natural  law,  that  is,  the  decrees  of  the  Divine 
Being,  as  by  them  understood,  the  voice  of  the  people 
may  be  said  with  propriety  and  literal  truth,  to  be  the 
voice  of  God ;  because  it  is  the  only  authoritative  earth 
ly  expression  that  can  rightfully  be  given,  to  the  eternal 
decrees,  which  the  Creator  has  stamped  upon  the  face 
of  his  work,  and  engraved  in  the  hearts  of  his  rational 
creatures. 

Indeed  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  is  so  far  from 
being  a  doubtful  principle,  that  it  is  supposed  and  ad 
mitted,  in  all  the  plausible  theories  that  can  be  advanc 
ed  of  all  forms  of  government.  It  may  be  said  for  ex 
ample,  by  the  advocates  of  monarchy,  that  it  appears 


79 

from  experience  that  the  general  good  is  hest  promoted 
by  investing  one  particular  family  with  the  hereditary 
office  of  declaring  and  enforcing  the  laws.  This  is  no 
doubt  the  most  plausible  account  that  can  be  given  of  the 
matter.  But  what  does  it  suppose?  First,  that  the  peo 
ple  naturally  possess  the  right  of  self-government;  se 
condly,  that  they  have  exercised  this  right,  and  finding 
by  experience  that  such  exercise  was  attended  with  in 
convenience,  have,  thirdly,  invested  a  particular  family 
with  the  office  of  acting  for  them  in  this  capacity.  Mo 
narchy,  therefore,  according  to  the  only  rational  theory 
that  can  be  given  of  it,  is  a  form,  in  which  the  people 
exercise  their  inherent  right  of  self-government;  and 
the  same  remark  may  be  applied  to  aristocracy,  theocra 
cy,  mixed  governments,  and  in  general  to  all  forms  as 
far  as  they  pretend  to  rest  upon  the  basis  of  natural  jus 
tice.* 


*  Another  theory  now  much  in  fashion  among  the  European 
philosophers  of  anti-philosophy,  (as  they  were  called  by  Madame 
de  Stael,)  founds  the  defence  of  monarchy  upon  some  supposed 
analogy  between  communities  and  families.  As  the  father  of  a 
family  naturally  possesses  a  controlling  power  over  his  wife, 
children,  and  servants,  so  there  ought  to  be,  and  naturally  is  as 
they  say,  in  every  community,  some  chief  or  sovereign  who  ex 
ercises  a  similar  control  over  the  members.  It  is  needless, 
however,  to  take  the  trouble  of  refuting  a  theory,  which  sup 
poses,  in  opposition  to  all  known  facts  and  to  the  whole  course 
of  history,  that  hereditary  sovereigns  possess  the  same  intellec 
tual  and  physical  advantages  over  their  subjects,  and  the  same 
instinctive  and  unconquerable  love  for  them,  which  constitute 
the  source  of  the  paternal  authority.  It  is  enough  to  wait,  as 
before,  until  they  show  us,  in  each  community,  an  individual 


80 

As  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  is  thus  consonant  to 
natural  justice,  and  is  even  supposed  in  all  rational  the 
ories  of  all  forms  of  government,  it  would  seem  to  follow 
that  pure  democracy,  or  a  government  in  which  the 
people  actually  exercise  in  person  the  sovereignty  which 
they  rightfully  possess,  would  be  the  form  of  political 
association  most  expedient  in  practice,  and  most  gene 
rally  adopted.  But  a  little  reflection  shows  very  clearly 
that  this  is  not  and  cannot  be  the  case.  A  community 
governed  on  a  purely  democratic  system  is  necessarily 
limited  to  the  number  of  families,  whose  heads  can  as 
semble  conveniently  in  one  place  for  deliberation  on  the 
common  affairs,  that  is,  to  four  or  five  hundred,  or  at 
the  most  as  many  thousand.  Now  communities  of  this 
size  do  not  afford  the  necessary  security,  either  against 
internal  convulsion  or  foreign  violence ;  and  this  form  of 
government  is,  therefore,  impracticable  on  a  scale  suffi 
ciently  large  to  ensure  the  objects  of  all  social  institu 
tions.  The  great  problem  in  politics  is,  therefore,  to 
discover  the  form  of  government  which  best  combines 
the  security  that  can  only  be  enjoyed  in  large  states, 
with  the  acknowledgment  and  exercise  of  the  right  of 
self-government  inherent  in  the  people.  Monarchy, 
aristocracy,  theocracy,  mixed  governments,  and  what- 
ever  other  forms  may  have  been  at  times  devised  and 


endowed  by  nature  with  the  visible  signs  of  this  high  pre-emi 
nence.  While  these  fathers  of  the  nations  continue  as  hereto- 
fore  to  acquire  and  maintain  their  paternal  authority  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  we  shall  consider  the  bayonet  as  the  best  argu 
ment  they  can  urge  in  support  of  it,  as  well  as  the  last. 


SI 

essayed,  must  be  considered,  as  far  as  they  are  in  any 
way  defensible  and  justifiable,  as  so  many  different  modes 
of  solving  this  problem.  It  remained  for  the  people  of 
the  United  States  to  furnish,  in  addition  to  these,  an  en 
tirely  new  solution,  which,  as  I  have  just  remarked,  has 
been  pronounced  by  a  very  competent  judge,  to  be  the 
most  splendid  discovery  of  modern  times.  The  object 
of  this  solution  is  not,  as  some  affirm,  democracy  rejected, 
but  democracy  made  easy.  The  secret  of  it  lies  in  the 
application  to  government  of  two  principles,  neither  of 
which  had  ever  before  been  distinctly  perceived  or  suc 
cessfully  practised,  and  which  constitute  the  two  next  in 
order  of  the  powerful  springs  in  our  political  machine, 
to  which  I  have  alluded  above.  Every  reader  will  per 
ceive  at  once  that  the  principles  in  question  are  the 
representative  and  the  federative.  They  are  not  so 
much  substitutes  for  democracy,  as  modes  of  reducing  it 
to  practice.  The  people  exercise  by  responsible  depu 
ties  the  power  which  they  cannot  conveniently  exercise 
in  person ;  and  obtain  by  a  federal  union  the  security, 
which  they  could  not  have  enjoyed  as  independent 
states.  It  is  wholly  impossible  to  form  a  correct  idea  of 
the  spirit  of  our  political  institutions,  without  attentively 
considering  the  nature  and  operation  of  these  two  great 
elementary  principles.  Pressed  as  I  am  for  space,  by 
the  necessity  of  treating  this  large  subject  in  a  single 
chapter,  I  must  confine  myself  to  a  few  of  the  most  ob 
vious  remarks  upon  each. 

1.  The  principle  of  representation,  to  us  who  have 
become  familiar  with  it,  appears  extremely  simple  as 
well  as  highly  important.  But  this  is  the  case  with  all 

11 


great  improvements ;  and  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that 
the  application  of  this  principle,  in  any  thing  like  a  pure 
and  perfect  state,  (and  it  is  only  when  applied  in  such  a 
form  that  its  real  advantages  are  perceived,)  was  at 
tempted  for  the  first  time,  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  The  hint  was  taken  from  the  imperfect  essays 
made  in  some  countries  of  modern  Europe,  to  employ  this 
principle  in  accomplishing  certain  partial  objects  of  a 
political  character ;  but  the  merit  of  bringing  the  machine 
to  perfection,  and  applying  it  to  the  great  purpose  of 
carrying  on  the  whole  affairs  of  the  government,  belongs 
to  our  own  country.  In  ancient  history,  notwithstand 
ing  the  frequent  examples  of  popular  institutions,  and 
the  constant  experience  of  the  insecurity  of  small  states 
of  this  description,  we  find  no  traces  of  any  effort  to 
enlarge  them,  by  the  application  of  the  representative 
principle  to  the  business  of  ordinary  legislation  and  ad 
ministration.  The  democracies  of  ancient  and  of  mo 
dern  times  have  all  been  cities,  in  which  every  citizen 
possessed  and  exercised  in  person  a  share  of  the  sove 
reign  power.  If  the  city  made  conquests,  they  were 
held  as  subject  provinces,  and  enjoyed  no  political 
rights,  unless  the  freedom  of  the  conquering  city  was 
extended  to  them  by  special  favour ;  and  the  rights  thus 
conferred  could  only  be  exercised  by  appearing  in  per 
son  in  the  city.  Even  in  Rome,  where  the  restless  spi 
rit  of  the  people  led  them  to  try  successively  almost 
every  imaginable  form  of  government,  where  the  rapid 
extension  of  the  territory  of  the  republic  would  have 
made  the  representative  system  so  extremely  conve 
nient,  and  where  the  practice  of  electing  the  executive 
magistrates  might  naturally  have  suggested  it,  it  was 


83 

never  resorted  to  for  the  general  purposes  of  legisla 
tion.  Of  the  two  legislative  bodies  that  carried  on  the 
government,  independently  of  each  other,  and  with  the 
sort  of  harmony  that  might  have  been  expected  under 
such  an  arrangement,  one  consisted  of  the  citizens  en 
masse,  and  the  other  of  the  executive  officers  whose 
term  of  service  had  expired,  and  who  then  took  their 
seats  for  life  in  the  senate,  by  virtue  of  the  offices  they 
had  held.  The  rights  of  citizenship,  though  largely 
conferred  in  the  later  times  of  the  republic  on  the  in 
habitants  of  the  provinces,  were  never  exercised  by  de 
puty.  The  council  of  the  Amphictyons  and  others  of 
the  same  description,  which  managed  the  concerns  of  the 
confederacies  of  independent  states,  so  common  in  anci 
ent  times,  exhibit  something  like  the  representation 
principle  as  practised  with  us ;  but  this  resemblance  is 
little  more  than  formal.  These  councils  approached 
more  nearly  to  the  congresses  of  ambassadors,  that  oc 
casionally  sit  in  Europe,  than  to  our  legislative  assem 
blies.  They  accomplished  many  important  purposes, 
but  they  never  brought  into  action  the  principle  of  re 
presentation,  as  applied  to  the  general  object  of  govern 
ment.  The  first  germ  of  this  great  improvement  was 
the  introduction  of  the  deputies  of  cities  into  the  states 
general  of  modern  Europe.  Although  they  acted  quite 
a  subaltern  part  in  these  assemblies,  and  although  the 
assemblies  themselves  exercised  a  very  limited  portion 
of  the  legislative  power,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  we 
discover  in  the  popular  portion  of  these  bodies  the  first 
rude  elements  of  the  modern  doctrine  of  representation. 
These  elements  have  been  more  or  less  developed  in  the 


84 

various  parts  of  Europe,  and  especially  in  England, 
where  the  principle  was  applied  for  a  short  time,  during 
the  period  of  the  commonwealth,  in  something  like  a 
pure  and  perfect  form  ;  but  the  government  was  then  in 
a  state  of  revolution,  and  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  pos 
sessed,  even  for  a  moment,  a  real  and  established  exist 
ence.     At  other  times  in  England,  and  generally  in  all 
the  European  governments,  the  principle  has  been  ap 
plied  in  combination  with  others  of  an  opposite  charac 
ter,  which  in  a  great  measure  neutralized  its  power. 
The  same  causes,  which  occasioned  the  temporary  ap 
pearance  in  England  of  a  pure  form  of  representation, 
introduced  it  under  better  auspices  into  the  British  co 
lonies  that  now  constitute  the  United  States.     In  this 
country  there  existed  no  political  elements  of  an  opposite 
tendency,  except  the  imaginary  rights  of  the  crown ;  and 
when  these  were  set  aside,  there  was  nothing  left  to 
prevent  the  representative  principle  from   exhibiting 
itself  in  its  natural  simplicity,  and  putting  forth  all  its 
force  and  virtue.     In  this  way  the  discovery  of  its  real 
value  was  finally  made.     Obvious  as  the  idea  may  now 
appear,  it  was  not,  as  we  have  seen,  deduced  from  gene 
ral  reasoning,  nor  struck  out  at  once  by  a  single  happy 
inspiration.     No  one  age  or  nation  can  claim  the  exclu 
sive  merit  of  the  invention,  still  less  any  one  individual, 
although  it  was  reserved  for  this  country  to  exhibit  for 
the  first  time  its  glorious  results.     It  grew  out  of  rude 
elements,  which  were  intended  originally  to  effect  other 
objects,  but  were  gradually  modified  by  the  course  of 
years  and  events  into  their  present  shape.  It  was  silently 
maturing  for  centuries  in  Europe,  and  would  after  all 


85 

never  have  been  brought  to  perfection,  had  not  a  ne\v 
world  been  discovered,  on  which  it  could  spring  up, 
vshoot  forth,  and  spread  itself  without  interruption,  until 
it  finally  assumed  its  natural  form.  Even  now,  and  in  this 
nation,  where  we  daily  see  its  beauty  and  feel  its  virtue, 
where  it  gives  refreshment  to  the  air  we  breathe  and 
fruitfulness  to  the  soil  we  tread  upon,  we  are  yet  hardly 
conscious  of  its  real  character  and  value.  We  accept 
the  blessings  it  bestows  upon  us  as  a  common  bounty  of 
providence,  without  distinctly  perceiving  and  appreci 
ating  the  immediate  cause,  to  which  we  are  indebted  for 
them.  When  we  have  studied  it  more  and  understand 
it  better,  we  shall  perhaps  be  able  to  turn  it  to  even  bet 
ter  account  than  we  do  at  present. 

By  means  of  this  discovery,  however,  the  system  of 
popular  government  or  democracy,  which  had  been 
before  generally  regarded  as  a  beautiful  dream  of  a  state 
of  things  too  perfect  to  be  realized  on  this  terrestrial 
sphere,  was  at  once  rendered  practicable  without  any  ma 
terial  alteration  of  its  essential  principles.  Quifacit  per 
alium,  facit  per  se.  Where  the  people  act  by  real  and 
responsible  deputies,  the  effect  is  the  same,  as  if  they 
acted  in  person ;  and  so  it  has  been  found  to  be  in  prac 
tice.  This  system,  being  once  ascertained  to  be  prac 
ticable,  naturally  supersedes  all  others,  when  there  is 
nothing  to  oppose  its  introduction,  because  the  only 
motive  (in  theory)  for  resorting  to  any  other,  was  the 
supposed  impracticability  of  this.  We  find  accordingly, 
that  since  the  example  of  pure  representative  govern 
ment  was  exhibited  for  the  first  time,  by  the  United 
States,  it  has  been  eagerly  imitated  by  every  commu- 


86 

nity  in  the  old  and  new  world,  without  I  believe  a  single 
exception,  which  has  undertaken  to  establish  political 
institutions.  Unfavourable  circumstances  have  occa 
sioned  the  failure  of  most  of  the^e  attempts,  and  those 
which  have  succeeded,  in  our  own  continent,  are  so 
recent,  that  the  system  has  hardly  yet  had  a  fair  trial. 
There  is,  however,  no  reason  to  doubt,  that  in  these  and 
in  all  cases  where  it  shall  be  fairly  established  and  go 
into  tranquil  operation,  it  will  produce  the  same  results 
that  it  has  with  us. 

The  representative  principle  is  therefore  the  vital 
spirit,  the  real  life  and  soul  of  our  body  politic.  It  is 
this  and  this  only,  that  makes  our  popular  form  of  go 
vernment  practicable  and  durable.  It  is  this  which  gives 
us  peace  and  union  at  home,  and  security  from  abroad ; 
which,  taken  in  connection  with  the  other  great  and 
leading  principle  of  federalism,  raises  us  from  the  pre 
carious  and  tumultuary  condition  of  a  thousand  indepen 
dent  petty  sovereignties,  wasting  each  other  with  per 
petual  wars,  (the  situation  of  Europe,)  into  one  great, 
free,  united,  rich,  glorious,  and  happy  republic.  As 
long  as  this  principle,  which  pervades  and  animates  alike 
the  general  and  state  governments,  shall  be  preserved 
in  its  purity ;  as  long  as  the  people  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  really  and  truly  represented  in  the  legislative 
councils  of  both,  there  can  be  no  fear  of  decay  or  abuse 
in  either;  no  fear  of  oppression  or  anarchy,  of  military 
usurpation,  civil  commotion,  or  foreign  conquest.  We 
have  amongst  us,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  in 
continual  activity,  all  the  elements  of  political  evil ;  but 
this  divine  principle  is  a  perpetual  and  never  failing 


87 

fountain  of  good,  that  constantly  neutralizes  or  purges 
off  every  thing  noxious,  and  pours  an  unceasing  flood  of 
health  and  vigour  through  all  the  members  of  the  state. 
Well,  therefore,  has  it  been  called  by  the  distinguished 
statesman,  philosopher,  and  writer  to  whom  I  have  be 
fore  alluded,  the  most  brilliant  discovery  of  modern 
times ;  and  strange  enough  it  is,  that  such  a  genius  as 
Mr.  Ames,  with  such  a  principle  as  this  in  constant 
operation  before  his  eyes,  should  have  said  that  nothing 
new  had  been  found  out  in  politics,  since  the  invention 
of  the  art  of  printing. 

But  is  there  no  danger  that  this  guardian  spirit,  whose 
presence  ensures  us  all  the  blessings  we  enjoy,  will 
desert  his  post?  Quis  custodiat  ipsos  custodes?  What 
certainty  have  we,  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
will  be  always  fairly  and  truly  represented,  as  they  are 
now,  in  the  legislative  councils  of  the  states  and  of  the 
union?  These  questions  I  shall  endeavour  briefly  to  re 
solve,  after  first  devoting  some  attention  to  that  other 
not  less  important  and  curious  principle,  in  our  social 
system,  by  which  the  sovereign  power  is  held  as  it  were 
in  joint  tenancy,  by  the  people  of  the  union  and  of  the 
several  states  composing  it,  and  is  exercised  by  each  in 
severalty  in  appropriate  portions,  according  to  the  tenor 
of  our  great  charters,  and  the  laws  and  usages  of  the 
country. 

2.  The  principle  of  representation  prevails  alike,  as  I 
have  already  observed,  in  the  general  and  state  govern 
ments,  and  is  a  necessary  condition  of  the  existence  of 
the  former  as  well  as  of  the  latter.  Without  represen 
tation  there  could  be  no  free  government  of  a  larger  size 


88 

than  a  society  of  a  tew  hundred  or  a  few  thousand  fami 
lies.  To  what  extent  the  system  of  simple  representative 
democracy  might  be  carried,  without  the  intervention 
of  the  federal  principle,  is  a  question  which  is  not  yet 
settled  and  which  we  need  not  here  investigate.  In  the 
late  example  of  the  republic  of  Colombia,  this  system  is 
applied  to  a  territory,  twice  as  large  as  the  principal 
kingdoms  of  Europe;  but  that  republic  is  still  under 
military  government,  and  the  civil  constitution  has  there 
fore  not  yet  been  fairly  brought  to  the  test  of  experi 
ment.  Without  pretending  to  anticipate  whether  it 
will  or  will  not  succeed,  or  to  foresee  the  result  of  the 
movements  now  making  in  that  quarter,  it  is  sufficient 
for  our  present  purpose  to  remark,  that  the  circumstances 
under  which  our  institutions  were  formed,  naturally  led 
to  the  introduction  of  the  federal  in  connexion  with  the 
representative  principle.  In  our  situation  both  were 
necessary,  and  neither  could  have  existed  or  produced 
its  full  effect  without  the  other.  Without  the  represen 
tative  principle,  we  could  not  have  possessed  either  free 
state  governments  or  a  union  among  them ;  and  the  coun 
try  having  been  settled  originally  by  distinct  and  inde 
pendent  colonies,  the  people  would  not  have  coalesced 
quietly  (had  it  even  been  desirable  that  they  should)  in 
any  other  body  politic,  excepting  a  federal  republic. 
The  success  of  our  political  experiment  depended  there 
fore  on  the  ability  with  which  the  problem  of  forming  a 
federal  republic  out  of  the  existing  materials  should  be 
solved.  The  first  trial  proved  ineffectual ;  the  second 
produced  the  fortunate  and  beautiful  system  under  which 
we  live. 


89 

The  plan  first  attempted,  commonly  called  the  old 
confederation,  resembled  very  nearly  the  leagues  of  free 
states,  which  have  existed  in  other  ages  and  countries ; 
and  the  scheme,  however  inferior  it  may  have  been  to 
the  one  finally  adopted,  does  no  discredit  to  the  learning 
or  the  discernment  of  our  revolutionary  statesmen.  It 
was  in  fact  highly  honourable  to  their  discretion,  that, 
before  they  launched  out  into  new  experiments,  they 
made  trial  of  the  most  improved  system  then  known  to 
the  world.  The  confederacies  of  free  states,  which 
have  flourished  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  are  illus 
trious  in  history,  and  had  met  the  approbation  of  the 
most  acute  and  judicious  political  writers.  Montes 
quieu  devotes  a  chapter  to  this  form  of  government, 
and  represents  it  as  nothing  less  than  perfect.  "  A  re 
public  of  this  character,"  he  observes,  "  is  in  no  danger 
from  either  foreign  violence  or  domestic  corruption ; 
and  is  thus  clear  of  all  defects.  It  unites  the  strength 
and  security  of  a  great  monarchy  with  all  the  internal 
advantages  of  a  free  state."  In  following  the  footsteps 
of  the  genius  of  ancient  Greece,  in  imitating  the  examples 
of  Etruria,  the  mother  and  nurse  of  Rome,  of  Switzer 
land,  and  Holland,  favourite  seats  of  learning,  liberty, 
and  virtue,  in  yielding  to  the  authority  of  Montesquieu, 
our  fathers  did  what  all  wise  and  good  men  would  have 
done  in  their  places.  They  were  not  ignorant  of  the 
misfortunes  and  fall  of  the  ancient  states  that  were  orga 
nized  in  this  form ;  but  they  also  knew  that  we  were 
placed  under  circumstances,  in  every  respect  more  fa 
vourable,  and  might  reasonably  look  for  a  better  fate. 
Switzerland  and  Holland  were  still  flourishing  in  all 

12 


90 

their  glory,  and  were  generally  regarded  by  the  friends 
of  liberty,  as  among  the  best  models  of  free  government. 
Independently  of  these  circumstances,  which  might  have 
determined  our  fathers  to  give  a  preference,  in  the  ab 
stract,  to  a  confederacy  of  independent  states  over  any 
closer  connexion,  they  had  not  in  fact  (morally  speaking) 
the  liberty  of  choice.  The  states  were  supposed  as 
colonies  to  be  wholly  independent  of  each  other ;  and 
had  no  political  bond  of  union,  excepting  the  imaginary 
rights  of  the  crown.  When  this  was  dissolved,  they 
remained  entirely  separate ;  and  having  certain  common 
concerns  to  arrange,  it  was  a  matter  of  course,  if  not  of 
necessity,  that  they  should  go  to  the  management  of 
them,  as  independent  communities.  The  first  act  of 
confederation  did  not  make  them  independent  but  found 
them  so.  It  was  a  simple  expression  of  their  existing 
situation,  and  of  the  mode  of  administration  to  which  it 
naturally  led.  Before  they  introduced  any  essential 
change  in  their  political  condition,  it  was  right,  not  only 
to  wait  for  tranquil  times,  but  to  wait  until  they  found 
by  experience,  that  any  such  change  was  necessary. 
They  took  things  as  they  found  them,  like  men  of  sound 
practical  sense  as  they  were ;  and  the  old  confederation, 
defective  as  it  afterwards  proved  to  be,  nevertheless  jus 
tified  their  discretion,  and  carried  us  nobly  through  the 
revolutionary  war.  It  was  discovered  in  the  sequel  to 
be  tainted  with  one  fatal  vice,  which  made  a  reform 
indispensable,  and  which  naturally  indicated  as  a  remedy 
the  adoption  of  the  federal  principle  in  its  present  shape. 
The  radical  defect  of  the  old  confederation,  and  it  was 
one  inseparable  from  the  nature  of  the  system,  was,  that 


91 

the  authority  of  the  general  government  proceeded  from 
and  acted  upon  the  state  authorities  and  not  the  indivi 
dual  citizens ;  while  it  is  the  leading  principle  of  our  pre 
sent  federal  union  as  such,  that  the  authority  of  the 
general  government  proceeds  from  and  acts  upon  the 
individual  citizen,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
states. 

By  virtue  of  this  arrangement  each  state  surrendered 
to  the  union  a  portion  of  its  sovereignty,  and  received 
in  turn,  as  an  equivalent,  a  portion  of  the  sovereignty  of 
each  of  the  others.  No  single  state  can,  therefore,  now 
be  considered  as  completely  sovereign  or  as  independent 
of  the  union ;  nor  is  the  union  as  such,  and  hy  virtue  of 
the  powers  granted  to  it  by  the  states,  completely  sove 
reign.  Each  state  is  sovereign  for  certain  purposes,  and 
possesses  its  appropriate  share  of  the  complete  sove 
reignty  belonging  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  : 
The  union,  by  virtue  of  the  powers  granted  to  it,  is  also 
sovereign  for  certain  purposes :  And  finally,  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  considered  as  comprehending  in 
itself  the  people  of  all  the  states,  and  possessing  as  an 
aggregate  mass  the  rights  and  powers  belonging  in  seve- 
ralty  to  each  of  its  component  parts,  is  the  rightful  owner 
of  all  the  powers  temporarily  entrusted  to  the  state  and 
general  governments^  and  being  also  the  rightful  owner 
of  all  the  powers  that  are  not  granted  to  either,  enjoys 
the  only  entire  and  complete  sovereignty  existing  in  the 
country.  The  sovereign  power,  thus  belonging  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  is  exercised  for  many  pur 
poses  immediately  and  in  person,  on  the  principle  of  pure 
democracy ;  as  in  all  matters  of  a  merely  local  character, 


92 

and  in  the  designation  of  the  persons  who  are  to  be  in 
vested  with  such  powers  as  are  exercised  by  deputy. 
The  persons  thus  designated  have  no  pretensions  to  the 
character  of  sovereignty,  but  are  merely  agents  of  the 
people  of  the  union  or  of  the  states,  for  the  several  pur 
poses  for  which  they  are  appointed.  Such  appears  to 
be  in  general  the  theory  of  our  government,  considered 
as  a  federal  republic. 

The  revolution  thus  accomplished  in  our  government, 
for  it  was  in  fact  and  in  its  consequences  another  revolu 
tion,  not  less  important,  although  achieved  without  blood 
shed,  than  the  one  which  gave  us  independence — this 
revolution  removed  at  once  with  the  principle  of  them, 
the  inconveniences  that  had  been  experienced  under  the 
former  system,  and  which  belong  to  the  essence  of  all 
confederacies  of  sovereign  states.  In  all  such  confede 
racies,  the  common  concerns  are  managed  in  the  way  of 
diplomatic  negociation.  The  members  of  the  union 
engage  to  execute  the  decisions  of  the  common  council ; 
but  if  they  fail  to  do  so,  there  is  no  regular  mode  of  put 
ting  them  in  force,  and  the  only  compulsory  process  is 
war.  In  other  words,  there  is  really  no  common  govern 
ment  ;  whereas  in  a  federal  republic  like  ours,  the  com 
mon  concerns  are  managed  in  the  ordinary  methods  of 
legislation  and  administration,  and  the  laws  of  the  union 
are  enforced  upon  the  individual  citizen,  in  the  usual 
forms  of  legal  process.  The  improvement,  introduced 
by  the  adoption  of  the  present  constitution,  was  there 
fore  nothing  less  than  the  substitution  of  order  for  anar 
chy,  and  of  the  best  of  all  governments  for  no  govern 
ment  at  all.  It  may  appear  indeed  at  first  view,  and  is 


93 

very  generally  believed  by  persons  not  familiarly  ac 
quainted  with  the  nature  of  our  system,  that  as  the 
sovereignty  of  the  states  is  not  entirely  merged  in  that 
of  the  union,  but  is  still  retained  for  certain  purposes, 
the  dangers  incident  to  all  bodies  politic  composed  of  a 
union  of  sovereignties  must  still  exist  to  a  certain  extent, 
and  that  they  are  only  mitigated,  but  not  completely 
removed.  But  this  opinion  will  be  found  on  examina 
tion  to  be  erroneous ;  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  danger 
incident  to  all  confederacies  of  completely  sovereign 
states,  is  not  incident  in  any  degree,  either  in  theory  or 
practice,  to  such  a  system  as  ours.  As  the  states  with 
us  retain  no  control  whatever  over  the  portion  of  so 
vereignty  which  they  have  surrendered  to  the  union, 
and  the  union  on  the  other  hand  has  no  control  what 
ever  over  the  portion  of  sovereignty  retained  by  the 
states,  there  is  no  possibility  of  collision  between  them, 
as  to  the  exercise  of  any  power  which  they  mutually 
acknowledge  to  belong  to  either.  It  is  only  as  to  powers 
of  which  the  rightful  possession  is  disputed  between  the 
persons  composing  the  general  and  state  governments, 
that  there  can  be  any  appearance  of  difficulty.  But  the 
difficulty,  that  presents  itself  in  such  a  case  is  essentially 
different  from  that  which  is  incident  to  a  confederacy 
of  independent  states.  The  disputes  of  this  kind,  which 
have  occurred  or  which  may  occur  hereafter,  all  turn 
upon  questions  of  construction,  which  are  in  their  nature 
legal  and  not  political.  The  constitution  provides  a 
regular  method  of  deciding  all  such  questions  in  the 
usual  forms  of  law,  and  enforcing  the  decision  by  the 
ordinary  legal  process ;  so  that  no  agent  of  the  general 


94 

government  or  of  a  state  government  can  usurp  any  por 
tion  of  authority  not  rightfully  belonging  to  him,  nor 
refuse  to  comply  with  the  lawful  requisition  of  any  other 
agent,  without  performing  an  illegal  act  and  subjecting 
himself  to  the  corresponding  punishment.  Where  this 
is  the  case,  the  system  is  complete ;  and  the  vice  of  all 
confederacies,  which  consists  in  the  absence  of  any  legal 
jurisdiction  of  the  union  over  its  members,  is  fully  reme 
died.  In  this  system,  the  relation  between  the  general 
and  state  governments,  is  that  of  two  classes  of  public 
agents  independent  of  each  other,  but  executing  the 
orders  and  subject  to  the  control  of  a  common  superior. 
As  long  as  the  authority  of  the  latter  is  maintained,  as 
long  as,  in  this  case,  the  representation  principle  is  pre 
served  in  its  purity,  it  is  evident  that  there  is  not  only 
no  danger,  but  that  there  is  even  no  real  delicacy  in  a 
relation  of  this  kind.  The  two  classes  of  agents  alluded 
to  are  situated  like  generals  of  division,  placed  under 
the  orders  of  a  common  commander  in  chief.  Their 
fields  of  action  are  for  the  most  part  distinct.  They 
rarely  come  in  contact,  and  when  they  do,  it  is  rarely 
on  occasions  that  admit  of  collision.  If  some  accidental 
circumstance  gives  rise  to  a  difference  of  opinion  or  a 
burst  of  ill  humour,  the  disturbance  is  appeased  at  once 
by  a  recurrence  to  head  quarters ;  and  as  long  as  the 
rightful  authority  of  the  commander  in  chief  is  main 
tained,  the  worst  that  can  happen,  in  such  a  case,  is  a 
c,ourt  martial  with  its  appropriate  results.  This  is  a 
faithful  image  and  illustration  of  the  respective  relations 
between  the  general  and  state  governments,  and  between 
them  both  and  the  sovereign  people  of  the  union.  This 


95 

part  of  the  body  politic,  therefore,  instead  of  being,  as 
has  sometimes  been  supposed,  morbid  and  delicate,  is  in 
fact  as  healthy  and  vigorous  as  any  other.  The  theory 
of  the  government  on  this  head  as  on  every  other,  is  plain, 
intelligible,  and  perfectly  consistent  with  natural  jus 
tice.  Such  a  system  will  bear  examination,  and  will  be 
more  admired  in  proportion  as  it  is  more  examined  and 
better  understood ;  while  as  respects  some  others,  con 
structed  on  different  principles,  it  is  but  too  true,  as 
was  observed  by  a  celebrated  French  politician,  that  the 
only  way  to  avoid  disputes  upon  the  relative  preten 
sions  of  rulers  and  subjects,  is  to  say  nothing  about  the 
matter. 

Such  was  the  nature  of  the  reform  made  in  the  old 
confederacy,  by  the  adoption  of  the  federal  principle  in 
its  present  shape.  On  the  other  hand,  the  preservation 
of  the  state  sovereignties  as  they  are  now  defined  and 
limited,  while  it  was,  as  I  have  observed,  a  necessary 
result  of  our  precarious  situation,  is  also  attended  with 
great  positive  benefits. 

It  has  the  favourable  effect  of  opening  new  springs  of 
activity  and  improvement,  in  every  quarter  of  the 
country,  and  of  giving  to  the  administration  of  justice 
a  promptitude  and  efficiency  unknown  in  other  systems. 
The  necessity  of  recurring  upon  every  trifling  question 
to  some  remote  central  authority,  for  a  decision  in  the 
last  resort,  is  an  inconvenience  serious  in  itself  and  still 
more  serious  from  the  opening  it  affords  for  abuse  and 
corruption.  It  has  been  long  and  deeply  felt  in  the 
great  monarchies  of  Europe,  especially  in  France,  where 
the  suffering  parties,  tormented  with  perpetual  delay* 


96 

and  unceasing  demands  for  new  bribes,  have  invented; 
in  the  anguish  of  their  spirits,  the  hard  name  of  bureau 
cracy,  to  express  the  whole  system ;  and  it  is  generally 
admitted  among  them,  that,  of  all  the  ocracies  that  have 
yet  been  tried,  this  is  decidedly  the  worst.  With  us,  on 
the  contrary,  the  administration  of  justice  and  the  busi 
ness  of  government  in  general,  being  carried  on  for 
the  most  part  by  the  state  authorities,  is  brought  home 
to  the  door  of  every  citizen,  and  transacted  with  all  the 
despatch  that  its  nature  will  admit.  Add  to  this  the 
immense  advantage  of  having  dispersed  about  the  coun 
try  these  masses  of  delegated  power,  inefficient  for  evil 
but  every  way  competent  to  do  much  good,  and  emulat 
ing  each  other  in  promoting  the  greatness  and  glory  of 
the  section  of  the  union  peculiarly  subject  to  their  care. 
See  the  New  York  canal,  a  work  that  would  do  honour 
to  the  mightiest  empires,  a  work  not  inferior  to  the  splen 
did  monuments  of  Egyptian,  Chinese,  or  European  enter 
prise,  planned  and  executed  by  a  single  state,  with  its 
own  funds,  in  eight  years.  Look  at  Ohio  putting  forth, 
in  her  fresh  and  youthful  beauty,  the  vigour  of  matu 
rity,  and  rivalling  already  the  example  of  New  York. 
Behold  the  genius  of  improvement  awaking  in  the  other 
states,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Virginia, 
the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia,  intersecting  their  territories 
with  these  precious  conduits  of  wealth,  and  preparing 
even  now  to  apply  the  summit  level  to  the  tops  of  the 
Alleghany  Ridge,  and  thus  realize  the  fable  (already 
antiquated  in  the  age  of  Horace)  of  a  time  when  the  sea 
gods  drove  their  herds  to  pasture  on  the  mountains— 

Omne  cum  Proteus  pecus  egit  altos 
Visere  montes. 


97 

Observe  the  venerable  universities  of  Harvard  and 
Yale,  founded,  endowed,  nursed,  patronized,  and  pro 
tected  by  their  respective  states;  the  recent  and 
highly  promising  institutions  of  the  same  kind  in 
Virginia  and  Kentucky ;  the  literary  fund  of  Connecti 
cut  and  New  York ;  and  the  various  other  establishments 
less  conspicuous,  but  in  some  cases  not  less  valuable,  for 
which  we  are  indebted  either  wholly  or  in  part  to  the 
enlightened  protection  of  the  state  governments.  When 
we  look  at  these  things,  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  con 
vinced,  that  we  can  hardly  appreciate  too  highly  the 
direct  advantages,  resulting  from  the  preservation  of 
these  governments  as  parts  of  our  political  system. 
When  we  see  these  things,  and  contemplate,  at  the  same 
time,  the  general  government,  harmoniously  co-operat 
ing  with  the  states  when  necessary,  in  all  their  enter 
prises,  while,  in  the  exercise  of  its  own  immediate  func 
tions,  it  is  spreading  abroad  among  the  nations  the  fear 
and  the  love  of  our  country,  until  the  very  name  of  the 
United  States  has  become  with  the  wise  and  good 
throughout  the  world  the  symbol,  as  it  were,  of  politi 
cal  justice,  and  a  word  of  good  omen,  auspicious  of  some 
thing  noble  and  fortunate,  wherever  it  is  pronounced, 
it  is  difficult  not  to  be  carried  away  beyond  the  line  of 
cool  and  sober  approbation,  which  belongs,  perhaps, 
more  properly  to  the  nature  of  the  subject,  into  some 
thing  like  enthusiasm.  If  the  thought  were  not  too 
bold,  we  might  almost  be  tempted  to  believe  that  pro 
vidence  had  specially  interfered  in  our  favour,  and  re 
compensed  by  these  more  than  ordinary  blessings, 
bestowed  upon  their  offspring,  the  toils,  the  sufferings,, 

13 


98 

the  manly  virtues,  the  sincere  though  sometimes  mis 
taken  piety  of  our  pilgrim  fathers. 

Upon  the  view  of  such  a  system  as  this,  we  may  well 
exclaim,  and  with  more  than  equal  propriety,  in  the 
language  of  the  great  commentator  on  the  laws  of  Eng 
land,  may  it  be  perpetual!  and  it  is  with  a  sort  of  fear 
ful  anxiety  that  we  inquire  for  the  first  time,  is  it  likely 
to  be  so?  What  security  have  we  that  this  fair  fabric 
will  be  lasting  ?  Is  it  not  too  bright  to  be  durable ;  a 
splendid  castle  in  the  air,  which  the  first  commotion  of 
the  elements  will  sweep  into  nothing?  I  feel  that  this 
branch  of  the  subject  is  fast  out- growing  the  limits  of  a 
chapter;  but  I  cannot  refuse  myself  the  pleasure  of 
stating  the  grounds  we  have  for  the  belief,  that  our  con 
stitution,  and  with  it  the  greatness  and  glory  of  our 
country,  if  it  should  not  be  perpetual,  (this  would  hard 
ly  come  within  the  bounds  of  a  reasonable  hope,)  will 
enjoy,  at  least,  in  all  probability,  a  long  term  of  healthy 
and  vigorous  existence.  "  All  human  things  have  their 
date,"  says  Montesquieu  with  a  sort  of  stern  conviction, 
at  the  close  of  his  chapter  on  the  British  constitution — 
"  all  human  things  have  their  date,  and  England  like 
other  nations  must  lose  her  liberty  and  perish.  Rome, 
Carthage,  and  Sparta  have  perished  before  her."  Our 
country  too,  the  fairer  daughter  of  this  fair  mother, 
matre  pulchra  filia  pulchrior,  may  be  doomed  to  obey 
the  universal  law.  But  however  this  may  be,  we  may 
venture,  while  yet  as  a  nation  in  the  freshness  of  early 
youth,  to  withdraw  our  thoughts  from  such  mournful 
contemplations,  and  to  indulge  rather  in  a  review  of  our 
great  political  advantages  and  of  the  reasons  we  have 
to  expect  their  continuance. 


99 

The  only  security  for  the  duration  of  any  political 
institutions,  good  or  bad,  lies  in  their  conformity  to  the 
condition  of  the  society  in  which  they  are  established. 
If,  in  a  community  consisting  of  a  thousand  families,  the 
head  of  every  family  have,  by  law,  the  right  of  voting 
in  the  election  of  the  chief  and  other  magistrates,  each 
possesses  in  form  a  portion  of  the  sovereignty  equal  to 
a  thousandth  part  of  the  whole,  and  the  shares  of  each 
being  equal,  the  government  is  purely  democratic.  If 
then  it  be  asked,  whether  this  constitution  be  likely  to 
endure,  the  question  can  only  be  resolved  by  ascertain 
ing  in  what  manner  the  elements  of  real  power  are  dis 
tributed  among  the  members  of  this  community,  and 
whether  each  possesses  a  portion  of  them  corresponding 
with  the  share  which  his  vote  represents.  These  ele 
ments  are  essentially  wealth  and  knowledge,  the  politi 
cal  influence  of  mere  physical  force  being  in  civilized 
society  comparatively  null ;  and  as  knowledge  in  general 
follows  wealth,  (not  indeed  in  the  individual  case  but  in 
the  final  aggregate, )  the  question  respecting  the  distri 
bution  of  the  elements  of  real  power  resolves  itself  into 
that  of  the  distribution  of  property.  If  then,  in  the 
community  supposed,  each  individual  possesses  with  his 
right  of  suffrage  a  thousandth  part  of  the  property,  and 
with  it  a  proportional  share  of  the  means  of  acquiring 
knowledge  or  cultivating  his  intellectual  capacity,  his 
vote,  in  that  case,  represents  a  corresponding  portion  of 
real  power.  The  government  thus  constituted  is  secure 
and  durable,  because  no  individual  has  the  means  of 
persuading  or  compelling  the  others  to  surrender  their 
rights.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  while  the  right  of  snf- 


100 

frage  is  universal,  the  property  of  the  country  (with  the 
means  of  education  and  improvement  attached  to  it) 
belongs  exclusively  to  ten  or  twenty  individuals,  it  is 
evident  that  the  form  of  the  government  is  nugatory.  The 
proprietors  as  such  exercise  the  power  of  life  and  death, 
(the  ne  plus  ultra  of  sovereignty)  over  the  rest  of  the 
community ;  and  as  it  is  of  no  consequence  to  the  latter 
under  what  names  this  tremendous  prerogative  is  held, 
they  are  ready  to  confer  by  vote  any  official  titles  and 
characters  upon  the  proprietor,  which  they  may  prefer. 
They  will  be  elected  at  their  discretion,  representatives, 
consuls,  kings,  or  priests;  but  as  they,  on  the  other  hand, 
have  no  real  motive  for  wishing  in  such  a  case  to  go 
through  the  farce  of  a  popular  election,  the  natural  effect 
of  such  a  distribution  of  property  is  to  determine  the 
form  of  the  government  in  a  manner  corresponding  with 
it,  and  to  introduce,  instead  of  an  equal  distribution  of 
political  power,  a  permanent  aristocracy,  composed  of 
the  ten  or  twenty  families  who  hold  the  property.  I  have 
stated  the  example  of  a  small  community,  in  order  to 
present  the  principle  with  more  distinctness ;  but  the 
conclusion  increases  in  certainty,  in  proportion  to  the 
scale  upon  which  the  experiment  is  tried.  In  small 
communities  much  depends  upon  accident,  and  in  a  so 
ciety  of  a  thousand  families  the  influence  of  property 
might  be  balanced  or  annulled,  under  certain  circum 
stances,  by  that  of  mere  physical  force  :  but  in  larger 
states,  where  the  slow  progress  of  the  action,  and  the  im 
mense  theatre  on  which  it  is  performed,  preclude,  in  a 
great  degree,  the  influence  of  accident,  and  leave  every 
thing  to  be  determined  by  the  operation  of  general 


101 

causes,  the  correspondence  between  the  form  and  sub 
stance  of  the  government  may  be  regarded  as  certain. 
The  history  of  the  world  confirms  these  principles. 
Wherever  property  is  very  unequally  distributed,  we 
uniformly  find  an  arbitrary  government  under  some  of 
its  various  shapes,  which  differ  only  in  name,  but  are 
the  same  thing  in  substance.  On  the  other  hand, 
wherever  property  is  pretty  equally  distributed,  we 
find  in  greater  or  less  degrees  an  approach  to  free  go 
vernment;  and  we  regularly  find  the  form  of  govern 
ment  changing  with  the  changes  in  the  state  of  proper 
ty.  The  equal  distribution  of  property,  which  was 
introduced  at  the  first  foundation  of  the  city  of  Rome, 
subverted  the  power  that  established  it  and  changed  the 
government  from  a  monarchy  to  a  republic.  The  in 
equality  of  property  occasioned  by  the  extension  of  the 
territory  of  the  republic,  and  the  immense  wealth  which 
was  thrown  into  the  hands  of  the  leading  citizens,  re 
versed  this  movement,  and  changed  the  government 
back  again  from  a  republic  to  a  monarchy.  As  a  sin 
gular  proof  of  the  nullity  of  the  mere  form,  without  a 
corresponding  substance,  and  in  confirmation  of  some  of 
the  remarks  made  above,  it  may  be  added,  that,  for  a 
long  time  after  this  latter  change,  the  republican  system 
was  retained  in  name ;  that  the  people  regularly  voted 
in  the  Domitians  and  the  Neroes,  with  the  same  formal 
freedom  with  which  they  had  elected  in  better  days  the 
Scipios,  the  Catos,  and  the  Tullies.  I  have  not  room 
here  for  a  full  development  and  illustration  of  these 
important  truths,  but  I  trust  that  they  are  sufficiently 
obvious  to  be  admitted  without  much  argument ;  as  they 


102 

are  in  fact  very  generally  acknowledged  by  all  compe 
tent  judges. 

Applying  these  principles  to  the  subject  under  con 
sideration,  we  have  every  reason  to  deduce  from  them 
the  most  satisfactory  and  cheering  conclusions,  in  re 
gard  to  the  stability  of  our  present  form  of  government. 
We  find  established  in  fact,  in  our  country,  a  distribu 
tion  of  property  corresponding  to  the  distribution  of 
formal  political  rights ;  with  sufficient  exactness  to  give 
them  effect  and  entire  security.  It  is  not  necessary,  for 
this  purpose,  that  there  should  be  a  precise  arithmeti 
cal  identity  in  the  number  of  acres  or  of  dollars,  that 
measures  the  possessions  of  every  citizen;  but  that 
there  should  be,  in  this  respect,  a  complete  equality  of 
rights,  and  that  inequalities  in  fact  should  not  be  ex 
cessive.  In  every  town,  country,  and  district,  in  the 
United  States,  there  are  a  few  persons  considerably 
wealthier  than  their  neighbours,  and  some  in  poverty 
and  actual  distress ;  but  the  number  of  both  is  compa 
ratively  small,  and  the  mass  of  property  is  distributed 
in  nearly  equal  shares  among  a  third  class  of  persons, 
holding  at  different  points  of  the  scale  an  intermediate 
station  between  the  two.  The  mass  of  property  carries 
with  it  of  course  the  mass  of  political  power,  and  thus 
neutralizes  the  influence,  which  the  very  rich  would 
exercise  over  the  very  poor,  and  which,  if  the  propor 
tion  of  the  number  of  these  two  classes  to  that  of  the 
whole  community  were  other  than  what  it  is,  would 
throw  into  the  hands  of  the  former  the  government  of 
the  country.  Since,  therefore,  the  form  of  our  govern 
ment  corresponds  with  sufficient  exactness  to  the  poli- 


103 

tical  condition  of  the  people,  we  have  all  the  security 
for  its  continuance,  that  any  nation  can  possibly  have 
for  the  permanence  of  its  political  institutions.  In  bad 
governments,  which  suppose  a  vicious  state  of  property, 
this  security  is  itself  imperfect,  because  in  such  cases 
the  physical  force  of  the  society  is  opposed  to  the  pro 
perty,  and  although  the  latter  element  possesses  every 
advantage  in  the  contest,  the  former  may  perhaps  suc 
ceed.  In  a  good  government  like  ours,  where  the  dis 
tribution  of  political  rights  corresponds  not  only  with 
that  of  property,  but  also  in  the  main  with  that  of  actual 
physical  force,  the  security  is  every  way  complete.  If, 
in  addition  to  this,  the  extent  and  position  of  the  state 
protect  it,  as  with  us,  from  the  danger  of  foreign  con 
quest  and  of  accidental  internal  commotion,  it  possesses 
all  the  guaranties  of  a  long  and  glorious  term  of  exist 
ence  that  are  consistent  with  the  instability  of  human 
affairs. 

Having  thus  taken  a  general  survey  of  the  various 
elements,  that  make  up  the  constitution  of  this  country, 
in  the  large  and  proper  acceptation  of  the  term ;  having 
next  analyzed  this  constitution  and  endeavoured  to  dis 
cover  the  great  internal  springs  that  move  the  machine; 
having  afterwards  examined  the  foundations  of  this 
system,  and  pointed  out  the  firm  basis  upon  which  it 
reposes  and  is  likely  to  repose  for  centuries  to  come ; 
having  found  in  every  branch  of  the  inquiry  the  fullest 
cause  of  satisfaction  with  the  present  and  high  hopes 
for  the  future,  it  is  natural  to  cast  a  look  backward  on 
the  progress  of  events,  by  which  we  have  reached  this 
point,  and  to  mark  the  signal  favours  with  which  pro- 


104 

vidence  has  distinguished  us  at  every  period  of  our 
history.  What  a  concurrence  of  independent,  and,  in 
some  respects,  apparently  adverse  circumstances  were 
necessary  to  the  establishment  of  this  republic,  and  its 
advancement  to  the  state  in  which  we  now  see  it !  It 
was  necessary  that  the  first  settlements  should  be  made, 
as  they  were,  upon  a  territory  remote,  but  not  too  far 
from  Europe;  large,  but  thinly  peopled,  enjoying  a 
temperate  climate,  and  a  fertile,  well  watered,  but  not 
too  luxuriant  soil.  It  was  necessary  that  the  settlers 
should  be  precisely  what  they  were,  civilized  but  not 
effeminate ;  pious — if  you  please,  fanatical,  for  in  many 
cases  a  little  excess  is  the  best  security  against  defici 
ency  ;  sages  and  scholars  according  to  the  learning  of 
their  age,  and  yet  accustomed  to  toil,  danger,  priva 
tion,  and  hardship  of  every  description.  It  was  im 
portant,  if  not  essential,  that  they  should  have  been  per 
secuted  for  their  love  of  liberty,  since  persecution  only 
could  have  given  to  this  passion  its  proper  intensity ; 
and  yet  that  they  should  have  sprung  from  the  freest 
country  in  Europe,  in  order  that  they  might  carry  with 
them  the  usage  as  well  as  the  theory  of  freedom.  It  was 
important  that  the  settlements  should  have  been  the  in 
dependent  work  of  individuals  from  the  middling  classes, 
and  have  owed  little  to  royal  or  noble  patronage,  since 
in  this  way  only  could  our  youth  have  been  preserved 
untainted  from  the  poison  of  aristocracy,  and  the  pure 
republican  principle  been  permitted  to  unfold  itself  in 
full  vigour.  It  was  also  essential  that  the  first  emigrants 
should  establish  themselves  in  a  number  of  separate  co 
lonies,  that  a  foundation  might  thus  be  laid  deep  and 


105 

broad  for  the  future  stability  of  a  federal  union;  and 
that  those  separate  colonies  should  be  held  together  by 
some  loose  bond  of  connexion,  like  that  of  the  imaginary 
right  of  sovereignty  in  the  king  of  England,  that  they 
might  be  secure  from  internal  dissensions.     When  the 
moment  at  last  arrived  for  throwing  off  this   foreign 
thraldom,  it  was  indispensable  to  our  success,  that  there 
should  appear  amongst  us  such  a  group  of  distinguished 
political  and  military  characters,  as  have  rarely  lived 
together  in  any  age  or  country.     It  was  further  neces 
sary,  that,  out  of  this  illustrious  group,  some  one  person 
of  the  military  class  should  be  sufficiently  conspicuous 
above  the  rest,  by  a  singular  combination  of  talent,  wis 
dom,  and  virtue,  to  acquire  and  retain  the  confidence, 
without  alarming  the  jealousy  of  his  countrymen.  It  was 
highly  important  again,  in  contributing  to  the  easy  and 
early  acquisition  of  our  independence,  that  the  hearts 
of  the  arbitrary  monarchs  of  Europe  should  have  been 
favourably  inclined  towards  a  cluster  of  infant  demo 
cracies,  and  especially  that  France  should  have  lent  us, 
as  she  did,  the  most  timely  and  effectual  aid:    And 
finally,  when,  after  our  independence  had  been  achiev 
ed,  our  political  institutions  were  found  to  require  im 
provement,  it  was  necessary  that  there  should  appear, 
in  a  younger  generation,  another  group  of  powerful, 
wise,  and  virtuous  spirits,  to  co-operate  with  the  re 
maining  revolutionary  patriots  in  this  salutary  work. 
Such  is  the  series  of  fortunate  circumstances  succeeding 
each  other,  through  a  long  course  of  years,  which  were 
either  absolutely  necessary  or  highly  important,  and 

14 


106 

which  in  fact  have  concurred  in  the  formation  of  the 
political  system  of  this  republic. 

Of  this  succession  of  events  the  last  in  order,  viz.  the 
successful  formation  of  the  federal  constitution,  is  the 
one  to  which  we  may,  perhaps,  with  justice,  attribute 
the  greatest  importance,  as  it  was  the  indispensable  con 
dition,  without  which  we  should  have  lost  the  benefit 
of  all  the  others.  It  may  not  be  unnatural,  therefore, 
by  way  of  conclusion  to  our  remarks  upon  this  branch 
of  the  subject,  to  bestow  a  moment's  attention  upon  the 
characters  of  the  principal  persons,  under  whose  influ 
ence  this  instrument  was  formed  and  adopted,  and  upon 
the  circumstances  under  which  they  acted.  Although 
this  period  followed  so  nearly  that  of  the  conclusion  of 
peace,  it  was  still  not  precisely  the  race  which  achieved 
the  revolution,  that  took  the  most  active  part  on  this 
occasion ;  but,  as  I  have  just  intimated,  a  younger  ge 
neration,  the  worthy  imitators  and  rivals  of  their  gene 
rous  fathers.  Of  the  leading  patriots  of  the  revolution, 
John  Adams  and  Jeiferson  were  abroad ;  Franklin  was 
too  old  to  lead  in  such  an  enterprise,  but  still  did  his 
part ;  Patrick  Henry  and  Samuel  Adams  were  opposed 
to  innovation  ;  Washington  from  his  previous  habits  was 
less  adapted  to  enter  into  the  details  of  a  new  political 
arrangement ;  some  of  the  others,  and  in  particular  Mr. 
Jay,  co-operated  efficaciously;  but  the  labour,  the  re 
sponsibility,  and,  on  the  whole,  the  ultimate  honour  of 
establishing  the  new  constitution,  devolved  upon  a  dif 
ferent  class  of  persons,  of  which  Madison  and  Hamilton 
may  be  considered  as  the  representatives  and  leaders. 
These  two  illustrious  friends  and  benefactors  of  their 


107 

country,  afterwards  attached  by  circumstances  to  differ 
ent  political  parties,  were  both  at  that  time  in  the  flower 
of  life,  neither  of  them  being  much  over  thirty,  and 
they  entered  on  the  task  which  then  engaged  the  pub 
lic  attention,  with  the  ardour  that  belonged  to  their  age 
and  a  maturity  of  judgment  that  would  have  done  ho 
nour  to  a  riper  one.  President  Madison  is  the  person, 
who  will  probably  be  ultimately  recognized,  as  far  as 
the  title  can  be  given  with  propriety  to  any  individual, 
as  the  author  of  the  federal  constitution.  It  would  give 
me  pleasure  to  do  full  justice,  according  to  the  extent 
of  my  power,  to  his  services ;  and  to  dwell  at  length 
upon  the  beautiful  union  of  high  intellectual  qualities 
and  accomplishments,  with  all  the  most  amiable  private 
virtues  and  graces,  that  have  marked,  throughout,  the 
career  of  this  eminent  statesman.  But  the  respect  due 
to  living  characters  prevents  me  from  enlarging  on  the 
subject.  Long  may  this  objection  continue  to  operate! 
long  may  this  illustrious  sage  and  patriot  continue  to 
enjoy,  in  his  elegant  and  learned  retirement,  the  qheer- 
ful  recollection  of  a  glorious  and  useful  life,  and  the 
affectionate  respect  of  his  grateful  countrymen !  Over 
his  great  co-operator  in  the  establishment  of  the  con 
stitution,  an  untimely  grave  has  long  since  closed.  He 
fell,  not  entirely  without  his  own  fault,  but  on  the  whole 
by  a  fatal  accident,  in  the  fullness  of  his  power  and  the 
freshness  of  his  honours,  at  the  moment  when  he  seems 
to  have  been  looking  forward,  through  some  intervening 
period  of  public  calamity,  which  he  appears  to  have  an 
ticipated,  to  some  higher  political  career  than  any  upon 
which  he  had  before  entered.  On  the  character  of 


108 

Hamilton,  public  opinion  has  been  much  divided ;  and 
few  men  have  been  alternately  the  subject  of  more  de 
cided  praise  and  reprobation.  Such  is  the  common  lot 
of  the  great  in  active  life.  A  period  of  more  than  twenty 
years,  that  has  passed  since  his  death,  and  which  in  our 
country  is  equal  to  a  century  elsewhere,  has  consigned 
him  to  the  roll  of  historical  personages;  and  the  people 
who  are  now  enjoying  the  benefit  of  his  services,  and 
who  suffered  but  little,  if  at  all,  by  his  faults  and  errors, 
such  as  they  were,  are  now  disposed  to  regard  him  with 
an  eye  of  favour,  and  to  pay  him  an  almost  unmingled 
tribute  of  admiration  and  gratitude.  Without  going 
precisely  to  this  extent,  an  impartial  observer  may  well 
be  allowed  to  speak  of  him,  as  one  of  the  greatest,  best, 
and  most  useful  men,  that  the  country  has  produced. 

Hamilton  possessed  a  mind  of  the  highest  order,  and 
was  capable  of  succeeding  in  every  thing  he  chose  to 
undertake.  It  may  perhaps,  however,  be  conjectured, 
that  the  natural  bent  of  his  disposition  was  for  active 
and  especially  for  military  life.  We  find  him  rushing 
to  the  field,  at  the  opening  of  the  revolutionary  war, 
though  just  escaped  from  infancy,  entering  the  army  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  as  a  captain  of  artillery, 
recommending  himself  immediately  by  his  activity  and 
intelligence  to  the  confidence  of  Washington,  in  whose 
family  he  lived  through  the  war  as  aid,  and  finally  com 
manding  with  success  one  of  the  attacks  on  Yorktown, 
in  the  decisive  action  that  brought  the  struggle  to  a 
close.  This  was  a  glorious  career  for  a  youth  of  his 
age,  and  exhibited  a  taste  and  talent  for  military  pur 
suits  so  strong,  that  we  might  naturally  have  supposed 


109 

it  to  be  exclusive,  and  inconsistent  with  any  love  or 
aptitude  for  civil  and  political  occupations.     Instead  of 
this,  however,  no  sooner  were  the  labours  of  the  camp 
at  an  end,  than  we  find  him  engaging  with  equal  ardour 
and  distinction,  in  that  of  the  senate  and  the  forum. 
He  was  a  member  and  a  leading  one  of  the  congress  of 
the  old  confederacy,  but  soon  perceived  the  defect  of 
this  system,  and  bent  his  mind  to  the  discovery  and 
application  of  a  remedy.      If  Madison,   from  having 
advised  the  first  steps  that  were  taken  towards  the 
adoption  of  the  present  constitution,  may,  as  I  have 
said  above,  be  justly  called  its  author,  Hamilton,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  if  possible  still  more  zealous  and  indus 
trious,  in  maturing  its  details  and  urging  its  adoption. 
His  influence  with  Washington,  who  appears  to  have 
wavered  for  a  moment  in  making  up  his  mind  upon  the 
constitution,  was  no  doubt  of  material  service  in  per 
suading  him  to  approve  it,    and  then  to  give  it  the 
weight  of  his  authority,  which  finally  secured  its  adop 
tion.  These  labours  and  successes  would  have  been  enough 
to  fill  the  life  and  establish  the  fame  of  any  man ;  but  to 
fight  the  battles  and  found  the  government  of  the  coun 
try,  were  only  introductory  steps  in  the  grand  career 
of  Hamilton.     We  next  find  him  at  the  head  of  (what 
was  at  that  time)  the  most  important  department  of  the 
administration,  not  pursuing  the  lazy  course  of  a  beaten 
routine,  but  organizing,  establishing,  discovering,  new 
modelling,  creating  every  thing.     He  found  the  coun 
try  bankrupt,  paid  its  debts,  and  left  it  possessed  of 
unlimited  credit ;  he  found  the  people  poor,  presented 
them  with  a  capital  of  a  hundred  million  dollars  to  begin 
with,  and  carried  wealth  into  every  body's  coffers  but 


110 

his  own.  Having  thus  settled  the  nation,  and  converted 
the  chaos  of  the  finances  into  a  piece  of  clock-work, 
that  has  gone  ever  since  without  winding  up,  our  poli 
tical  Hotspur  (taking  the  name  in  a  good  sense)  found 
the  situation  too  quiet  for  him,  and  we  next  behold  him 
figuring,  after  a  few  months'  study,  and  no  practice,  in 
a  post,  at  which  few  arrive  without  twenty  or  thirty 
years  of  steady  preparation  and  effort.  I  mean  at  the 
head  of  the  New  York  bar.  In  this  field  of  unremit- 
ted  and  honourable  labour,  he  continued  to  flourish,  till 
the  day  of  his  untimely  death,  hardly  less  distinguished 
as  a  legal  advocate  than  he  had  been  before  as  a  soldier 
and  a  statesman ;  confidentially  consulted  by  the  govern 
ment  ;  regarded  as  a  leader  by  one  political  party,  and 
admired  and  respected  by  the  other ;  the  delight  of  his 
friends  and  an  honour  to  the  country.  Such  wras  his 
habitual  activity,  that  it  was  a  mere  episode,  in  the  re 
gular  course  of  his  labours,  to  arrange  and  organize  the 
army  that  was  raised  in  1798.  Notwithstanding  the 
extraordinary  variety  of  his  pursuits,  he  never  seems 
to  have  failed,  or  even  to  have  fallen  short  of  a  high 
degree  of  excellence  in  any  of  them.  If  he  wanted  any 
thing,  it  was  perhaps  the  finished  elegance  of  manner 
as  a  writer  and  speaker,  the  attainment  of  which  was 
in  fact  hardly  compatible  with  the  hurried  course  of 
his  life.  His  writings  exhibit  a  sound  and  judicious 
train  of  thought,  expressed  in  perfectly  plain  and  un 
pretending  language ;  and  this  manner  is,  no  doubt,  on 
the  whole,  very  suitable  to  the  nature  of  the  subjects 
he  treated.  But  good  taste  would  admit,  and  even  at 
times,  perhaps,  require  rather  more  point  and  polish, 
not  to  say  correctness,  than  we  always  find.  His  elo- 


Ill 

quence,  according  to  report,  was  also  vigorous  and  co 
gent,  rather  than  persuasive.  There  are  few  traces  in 
his  works  of  extensive  reading  or  habitual  and  profound 
meditation,  which  were  indeed  inconsistent  with  his 
education  and  habits.  His  thoughts  are  rather  the 
spontaneous  results  of  a  powerful,  sagacious,  and  origi 
nal  mind,  practical  in  its  tastes  and  pursuits,  and  always 
directed  intensely  to  the  subject  in  hand.  Notwith 
standing  these  deductions,  if  such  they  may  be  called, 
(but  how  can  any  one  man  be  expected  to  possess  every 
valuable  quality?)  Hamilton  is,  perhaps,  the  most  re 
markable  example,  that  has  ever  been  seen,  of  an  union 
of  various  and  opposite  talents.  Combining  the  finan 
cial  skill  of  Pitt,  (applied,  however,  to  far  better  pur 
poses,)  with  the  strong  argumentative  eloquence  of 
Fox,  rising  as  a  legislative  politician  far  above  all 
names  in  English  history,*  to  a  level  at  least  with  the 
greatest  lawgivers  of  ancient  times,  superadding  to 
these  merits  a  decided  military  turn,  which  with  a 
proper  field  for  its  exercise  would  have  made  him  one 
of  the  greatest  captains  of  his  day,  he  possessed  all  the 
talents  that  belong  to  practical  life,  in  all  its  highest 


*  The  most  eminent  theoretical  politicians  of  modern  times 
have  not  added  much  to  their  renown,  by  their  attempts  at 
actual  legislation.  The  constitution  prepared  by  Locke  for 
South  Carolina  is  an  acknowledged  failure.  Bentham's  ready 
made  legislative  wares  have  not  yet  found  a  purchaser,  although 
the  Cortes  of  Portugal,  and  lately  the  government  of  Colombia, 
have  shown  some  disposition  to  bid.  The  praise  given  to 
Hamilton  in  the  text  will  not,  I  trust,  be  considered  extrava 
gant,  although  I  should  not  think  of  comparing  him,  as  a  sci 
entific  political  philosopher,  with  Locke,  Hume,  or  Burke, 


112 

and  most  honourable  spheres.  To  say  that  he  did  not 
add  to  these  the  powers  and  accomplishments  that  be 
long  to  the  academy,  is  only  to  say  that 'his  life  was 
public  and  not  academic. 

When  we  look  merely  at  his  astonishing  and  various 
talents,  it  must  be  owned  that  such  a  character  is  some 
what  dangerous  in  a  free  state.  First  rate  capacity, 
unwearied  activity,  boundless  ambition,  directed  by  a 
passion  for  military  life,  an  impetuous  temperament, 
and  a  private  morality  that  savoured  in  some  points  of 
the  tent  rather  than  the  tabernacle,  this  was  a  combi 
nation  of  qualities,  which  has  undoubtedly  been  accom 
panied  in  most  other  cases  with  a  want  of  public  virtue, 
and  has  accomplished  the  ruin  of  many  a  flourishing 
republic.  It  is,  therefore,  the  more  honourable  to  the 
character  of  Hamilton,  that  he  exhibited  no  appearance 
of  any  such  deficiency,  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  his 
talents  and  activity  were  uniformly  exerted  for  the 
general  good.  The  elevation  of  his  character  raised 
him  far  above  the  baseness  of  pecuniary  corruption, 
and  ought  to  have  cleared  him  even  from  the  suspicion 
of  it.  His  purity,  as  secretary  of  the  treasury,  was 
however^  called  in  question,  under  the  influence  of  high 
party  excitement,  and  I  need  not  say  came  out  unsul 
lied  from  the  trial.  If  he  ever  gave  any  reasonable 
cause  for  suspicion,  it  was,  perhaps,  when  he  exhibited 
so  strong  and  eager  a  desire  to  prolong  the  war  with 
France  in  1799;  but  this  may  well  be  attributed  to 
mistaken  views  of  state  policy.  He  has  been  accused 
of  attachment  to  monarchy ;  but  a  closer  scrutiny  of  his 
character  may  lead  us  to  conclude,  that  what  he  loved 
was  not  monarchy,  but  military  command;  and  having 


113 

done  more  perhaps  than  any  other  citizen  of  his  age, 
-first,  to  shake  off  the  government  of  a.  king,  and  then 
to  establish  a  purely  democratic  constitution,  he  could 
hardly  be  suspected  with  reason  of  a  fondness  in  the 
abstract  for  monarchical   institutions.       It  has    been 
rumoured,  however,  that  he  acquired  and  expressed 
towards  the  close  of  his  life  a  strong  distaste  for  demo 
cracy;  that  he  anticipated  a  domestic  war  between  the 
two  political  parties,  and  expected  to  take  the  military 
command  of  one ;  that  he  cherished  high  ambitious  pro 
jects  for  himself,  upon  the  successful  termination  on 
which  he  calculated  of  his  new  career,  as  commander 
in  chief  of  the  federalists;  that  if  these  expectations 
had  been  realized,  even  supposing  his  intentions  to 
have  been  at  this  time  patriotic  and  disinterested,  his 
natural  impetuosity  would  have  made  his  dictatorship 
very  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  this  country;  and 
finally,  that  such  anticipations  are  of  the   nature   of 
those  prophecies,  which  have  a  tendency  to  effect  their 
own  accomplishment.     But  these  are  all  idle  rumours 
resting  wholly  upon  hearsay ;  and  the  slight  foundation 
of  real  fact,  that  may  perhaps  be  mixed  up  in  them, 
might  doubtless  be  explained  in  the  most  satisfactory 
way.     They  should  not  be  allowed,  for  a  moment,  to 
cloud  the   unsullied  reputation  of  this  great  public 
benefactor.     As  a  private  man  he  constantly  exercised 
the  highest  moral  virtues — a  sublime  disinterestedness, 
a  generous  frankness  that  knew  no  disguise,  because  it 
never  dreamed  of  mischief,  and  a  warmth  of  heart  that 
urged  him  to  unwearied  activity  in  the  service  of  his 
friends,  as  well  as  his  country.     Some  few  slight  ble- 

15 


114 

mishes  soiled  this  noble  character;  but  who  would 
think  of  recording  them  against  the  blooming  hero  of 
Yorktown,  the  nursing  father  of  the  constitution,  the 
founder  of  the  credit  of  his  country?  When  he  died, 
there  was  a  general  burst  of  anguish  and  despair,  little 
inferior  to  that  which  accompanied  the  funeral  of 
Washington.  Every  one  seemed  to  feel  that  the  beauty 
of  Israel  was  fallen  upon  his  high  places.  Who  can 
have  forgotten  the  melting  eulogy,  in  which  Fisher 
Ames  poured  out  his  tender  soul  like  water,  over  the 
ashes  of  his  friend? 

To  Madison  and  Hamilton,  therefore,  is  the  country 
indebted,  more  than  perhaps  to  any  other  two  men,  for 
the  plan  of  our  present  federal  government,  and  the  first 
arrangement  of  its  details.  To  persuade  the  people  to 
adopt  it  was  a  new  and  still  more  difficult  task,  in  which 
they  also  laboured  with  unwearied  zeal  and  signal 
talent.  Nor  ought  it  to  surprise  us  that  the  constitu 
tion,  when  first  submitted  to  the  people,  should  have 
met  with  great  opposition.  The  adoption  of  it  accom 
plished,  as  I  have  already  observed,  a  complete  revolu 
tion  in  the  government  of  the  country.  Had  this  taken 
place  without  commotion  or  resistance,  the  fact  would 
have  proved  the  inattention  of  the  citizens  to  their  most 
important  interests,  and  not  their  good  sense  or  public- 
virtue.  Nor  are  we  to  suppose,  however  highly  we 
may  now  think  of  the  constitution,  that  the  anti-fede 
ralists  acted  from  vicious  motives,  or  were  even  in  all 
cases  ill  informed  or  perverse.  They  were  in  fact,  on 
the  contrary,  the  party,  which  had  in  its  favour  the 
presumption  of  right,  because  they  defended  the  exist- 


115 

ing  state  of  things  against  innovation.  This  is  always 
a  plausible  argument ;  and  they  had  besides  the  popular 
pretence  of  asserting  the  rights  of  states  and  individuals, 
against  the  encroachments  of  government,  another  gold 
en  topic.  Nor  did  they  want  authority  to  back  their 
reasoning.  On  the  contrary,  the  weight  of  names,, 
with  one  sing^  great  exception  which  probably  turned 
the  scale  against  them,  was  perhaps  on  the  whole  on 
their  side,  Take  for  example  Virginia  and  Massachu 
setts,  which  had  always  been  politically  and  intellectu 
ally  the  leading,  as  th-y  are  the  oldest  states  in  the 
union.  In  Massachusetts,  setting  aside  John  Adams, 
who  was  then  in  Europe,  +he  two  most  distinguished 
revolutionary  worthies  in  the  state — what  do  I  say?  the 
only  two  patriots  in  the  country  ^hose  zeal  had  obtain 
ed  for  them  the  singular  honour  of  pr  -scription,  Samuel 
Adams  and  John  Hancock — were  agai^t  the  constitu 
tion.  The  latter  persisted  in  opposing  it  to  the  iast . 
and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  the  former  was  ulti 
mately  persuaded  to  give  it  a  reluctant  support.  On 
the  other  hand,  who  were  the  Parsonses,  the  Kings,  the 
Ameses,  and  others — its  principal  partisans?  Men  of 
yesterday — young  lawyers,  before  unknown  to  the 
country.  They  gave  proofs  no  doubt  of  eloquence, 
talents,  and  book-learning;  but  were  these  qualities, 
however  precious  in  their  way,  to  counterbalance  the 
mature  wisdom,  the  rich  experience,  the  tried  patri 
otism  of  the  incorruptible  fathers  of  our  liberty?  Look 
now  at  Virginia ;  a  young  barrister  of  about  thirty  years 
of  age,  popularly  called  Jemmy  Madison,  comes  for 
ward,  and  proposes  to  his  fellow  citizens  to  abandon  a 
part  of  their  individual  and  state  rights  and  submit  to  a 


lib 

general  government,  possessing  large  and  because  un 
tried  of  course  unknown  powers;  to  acknowledge  a 
single  ruler  under  the  name  of  a  president,  the  extent  of 
whose  authority  future  experience  alone  could  deter 
mine.  The  proposition  was,  it  must  be  owned,  not  very 
palatable,  and  might  well  alarm  a  people  less  sensitive 
on  the  subject  of  state  prerogatives,  thp^  that  ot  the 
ancient  dominion.  Under  these  circumstances,  the 
oldest  and  most  respected  of  the  revolutionary  patriots, 
the  man  who  was  the  first  in  all  the  country  to  raise 
the  cry  of  independence,  Patrick  Henry  himself,  then 
governor  of  the  state,  tells  them,  in  the  same  familiar 
voice,  sweeter  than  music,  chat  was  never  known  to 
deceive,  that  never  lispe*  a  sound  which  was  not  as 
pure  and  true  as  the  *ord  of  inspiration,  that  Jemmy 
Madison,  though  i  clever  and  honest  young  man,  is 
wrong;  that  the  nnovations  he  proposes  are  dangerous; 
that,  -*n(ler  tne  name  of  a  president,  he  is  imposing 
upon  the  country  a  tyrant  in  disguise,  who  will  place 
one  foot  on  the  border  of  Maine,  and  the  other  on  the 
farthest  extremity  of  Georgia,  and  then — farewell  to 
liberty! — Is  it  singular  that  in  such  a  conflict  of  autho 
rities  and  opinions,  the  people  of  Massachusetts  and 
Virginia  should  have  been  divided,  and  that  a  strong 
party  should  have  been  opposed  to  the  new  system?  It 
is  evident,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  only  wonder  is, 
how,  in  this  state  of  things,  which  existed  substantially 
throughout  the  union,  the  federal  constitution  could 
have  been  adopted.  The  force  of  truth,  the  pressure 
of  the  immediate  inconveniences  resulting  from  the 
vices  of  the  old  system,  the  unwearied  activity  of  the 
friends  of  the  new,  and  above  all  the  authority  of 


117 

Washington,  must  be  well  considered,  before  we  can 
realize  the  possibility  of  this  salutary  reform. 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  say,  that  of  all  our  revo 
lutionary  statesmen,  no  two  were  less  obnoxious  to  the 
suspicion  of  interested  motives,  than  Patrick  Henry  and 
Samuel  Adams.  Their  very  names  are  significant  of 
spotless  integrity  and  a  singleness  of  heart,  that  looked 
exclusively  as  well  as  devotedly  to  the  public  good.  It 
is  a  pleasant  thing  to  turn  away  the  mind  for  a  moment, 
from  the  hollow  professions  and  the  ill  disguised  selfish 
ness  of  some  of  our  loudest  contemporary  patriots,  and 
to  let  it  repose  upon  the  pure  virtue  of  these  excellent 
men.  "  I  am  not  worth  buying,"  was  the  reply  of 
Adams  to  the  British  emissary,  who  invited  him  to  fix 
his  price,  "  I  am  not  worth  buying,  but,  such  as  I  am, 
the  treasury  of  England  would  not  pay  for  me."  Find 
ing  that  he  would  not  fix  his  price,  the  British  fixed  it 
for  him,  and  offered  a  reward  for  his  head.  "  Oh  what 
a  glorious  morning  is  this,"  exclaimed  the  noble  pro- 
script,  on  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  nothing 
daunted  by  the  prospect  of  the  gallows.  Not  many  years 
before,  Sir  Robert  Walpole  had  publicly  affirmed,  that 
he  knew  the  price  of  every  patriot  in  England,  and 
could  command  their  votes  whenever  he  chose  to  come 
up  to  it.  Samuel  Adams  proved  to  his  successor,  that 
this  was  not  the  case  in  America ;  and  in  this  difference, 
lay  the  secret  of  our  success.  The  corrupt  and  selfish 
may  laugh  at  honesty  and  call  it  enthusiasm  5  but  it  gives 
to  talent  an  influence  that  nothing  else  ever  can,  and 
commands  the  respect  and  admiration  even  of  those  who 
want  it.  The  honesty  of  these  two  celebrated  patriots 
was  not,  however,  of  that  rustic  cast,  which  excludes 


118 

the  graces  of  manner.    The  language  of  the  simple  Vir 
ginian  farmer  melted  like  honey  from  his  lips,  and  was 
alternately  endowed  with  a  Ciceronian  charm,  that  cap 
tivated  all  hearts,  and  pointed  with  a  passionate  empha 
sis,  that  struck  down  opposition  like  thunder.  We  knew 
this  before  by  tradition,  and  the  elegant  pen  of  his  bio 
grapher  has  given  ample  confirmation  of   it.     What 
presence  and  power  of  mind,  in  his  well  known  check 
to  the  murmurs  of  the  tories  in  the  assembly  of  Virgi 
nia,  "  If  this  be  treason,  let  them  make  the  most  of  it." 
Samuel  Adams  was  a  ripe  and  accomplished  scholar. 
He  had  formed  his  taste  as  well  as  his  character,  upon 
the  finest  models  of  antiquity,  and  was  the  most  polished 
writer  of  his   day   in  America.     Are  we,   therefore, 
lightly  to  charge  these  tried  friends  of  the  country  with 
selfishness  or  faction,  because  they  did  not  perceive  the 
necessity  of  the  new  constitution?  Are  we  even  to  regret 
it,  since  their  opposition  proved  ineffectual?     It  may 
boldly  be  said,  that  it  was  natural  for  the  wisest  and 
best  men  of  the  day,  as  these  undoubtedly  were,  to  take, 
in  their  position  and  at  their  age,  the  part  they  did. 
They  had  devoted  the  freshness  of  their  youth,  the  ma 
turity  and  vigour  of  their  riper  years,  their  whole  being 
in  fact,  all  the  strength  and  wisdom  that  God  had  given 
them,  to  procure  for  the  country  the  state  of  things 
which  it  was  now  proposed  to  change.  Was  it  for  them, 
when  they  had  reached  the  ordinary  term  of  human  ex 
istence,  to  begin  a  new  and  contrary  course  of  action,  and 
to  undo  what  they  had  been  all  their  lives  so  laboriously 
doing?  Surely  not.  Much  as  I  admire  the  constitution, 
much  as  I  rejoice  that  it  was  adopted,  I  confess  that  I 
like  these  sterling  old  hearts  the  better  for  opposing  it, 


119 

and  for  sticking  fast  to  the  text  of  state  sovereignty, 
and  the  old  confederacy,  in  defiance  of  what  they 
doubtless  thought  a  wanton  and  headstrong  spirit  of  in 
novation. 

It  is,  therefore,  by  no  means  necessary  to  suppose, 
as  some  have  heretofore  unadvisedly  and  rather  unkind 
ly  done,  that  the  anti-federalists  acted  entirely  upon 
factious  and  selfish  motives.  They  were  doubtless  in 
the  wrong;  but  looking  at  the  question  as  it  then  pre 
sented  itself,  they  had  great  reason,  high  authority,  and 
in  fact  much  actual  truth  on  their  side ;  for  in  this  as  in 
all  other  cases  of  revolution,  there  was  a  conflict  of 
rights  and  of  principles,  which  no  argument  could  recon 
cile,  and  nothing  but  force  or  authority  could  settle. 
A  recurrence  to  force  would  have  been  in  other  words 
a  civil  war ;  and  where  was  the  weight  of  authority  to 
be  found,  that  could  counterpoise  that  of  the  ablest  and 
most  respected  revolutionary  patriots?  The  thing  must 
have  appeared  at  the  time  impossible ;  but  by  one  of 
the  signal  blessings  of  providence,  which  have  marked 
so  often  the  political  career  of  this  country,  there  dwell 
ed  amongst  us  an  individual  possessing,  in  the  love  of 
the  people,  in  their  gratitude  for  his  services,  and  their 
conviction  of  his  wisdom  and  virtue,  such  means  of  in 
fluence,  as  enabled  him  to  interpose  at  the  critical  mo 
ment,  the  dignus  vindice  nodus,  first  to  procure  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution,  and  then  to  give  it,  by 
accepting  the  presidency,  the  indispensable  advantage 
of  going  quietly  into  operation,  under  the  auspices  of  a 
general  public  favour.  The  age  of  Washington  placed 
him  at  a  middle  point  between  the  two  parties ;  and  his 
character  qualified  him  fully  to  decide  for  himself  upon 


120 

the  question ;  while  his  immense  popularity,  the  bound 
less  and  deep  devotion  with  which  he  was  worshipped. 
as  it  were  like  a  god,  throughout  the  country,  rendered 
his  opinion,  whatever  it  might  be,  decisive  with  multi 
tudes  and  very  imposing  in  the  minds  of  all.  When  we 
perceive  with  what  difficulty  the  constitution  was  car 
ried,  even  under  the  sanction  of  his  recommendation, 
and  with  a  fore- knowledge  that  the  untried  power  of 
the  presidency  would  be  committed,  in  the  first  instance, 
to  his  unspotted  hands  and  blameless  heart,  it  can  hardly 
be  supposed  that  it  would  have  been  adopted  under 
other  circumstances.  To  him  therefore,  in  the  last  re 
sort,  are  we  indebted  for  the  constitution  as  well  as  in 
dependence.  Never  was  an  individual  blessed  before 
with  such  repeated  opportunities  of  doing  good,  on  so 
vast  a  scale,  and  never  before  was  the  blessing  of  pro 
vidence,  in  this  respect,  so  fully  justified  by  the  con 
duct  of  the  subject.  Never  was  the  triumph  of  pure 
unadulterated  virtue,  over  all  the  other  principles  that 
influence  the  march  of  human  affairs,  so  complete,  as  in 
the  whole  military  and  political  career  of  this  incompa 
rable  man.  Virtue  was  the  basis  of  his  character,  and 
the  secret  of  his  talent,  his  wisdom,  and  his  success. 
Without  military  instruction  or  experience  in  war,  it 
made  him  a  consummate  general.  Without  extensive 
reading  or  scientific  habits,  it  made  him  a  profound  po 
litical  philosopher,  and  it  gave  him,  without  intrigue  or 
effort,  the  undisputed  empire  of  his  country.  Those 
who,  on  the  testimony  of  their  own  hearts,  deny  the 
reality  of  virtue,  must  find  the  history  of  Washington 
an  insoluble  enigma ;  and  those  who,  believing  in  this 
divine  principle,  are  yet  tempted  to  doubt  its  efficacy, 


121 

in  determining  the  course  of  events  in  this  world,  may 
observe  the  success  of  Washington  and  be  satisfied. 

Such,  in  a  general  view,  were  the  circumstances  that 
attended  and  occasioned  the  adoption  of  the  constitution. 
The  division  into  parties,  which  was  then  created,  con 
tinued  for  a  long  time,  under  various  modifications  and 
changes  of  names,  to  distract  the  country;  and  has  only 
yielded,  within  a  few  years,  to  the  progress  of  time  and 
events.  Some  traces  of  it  still  remain ;  but  much  has 
been  done  to  obliterate  them  by  the  magnanimous  policy 
of  the  present  chief  magistrate  of  the  union ;  and  this, 
with  other  circumstances  of  a  different  character,  will 
probably,  ere  long,  efface  them  entirely.  It  would  nei 
ther  be  agreeable  nor  useful  to  enlarge  at  present  upon 
this  unfortunate  but  not  dishonourable  chapter  in  our 
history.  I  turn  at  once,  in  preference,  to  the  fairer 
field  of  inquiry  which  offers  itself  in  the  great  and  inte 
resting  subject  of  our  policy  foreign  and  domestic. 


16 


122 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The   United  States  of  America. — Internal  Situation 
and  Policy. 

THE  most  important  subject  for  consideration,  in  the 
political  situation  of  every  country,  is  the  constitution  or 
form  of  government,  and  this,  in  reference  to  the  United 
States,  has  been  cursorily  treated  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  Next  to  this  in  interest  are  the  great  subjects 
of  making  and  executing  the  laws,  that  is,  of  applying 
the  theory  of  the  government  to  practice.  These  ope 
rations  are  often  comprehended  under  the  single  general 
term  of  administration,  and  the  leading  principles  on 
which  they  proceed  are  called  collectively  the  policy 
of  a  country,  which,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  ob 
jects  immediately  contemplated,  divides  itself  into  the 
two  great  branches  of  foreign  and  domestic.  The  former 
of  these  is  the  one  which  comes  more  directly  within  the 
scope  of  the  present  essay,  and  it  will  be  considered 
somewhat  fully  in  the  subsequent  chapters.  As  the 
limits  of  the  work  will  not  permit  me  to  enter  into  a 
complete  development  of  both,  I  shall  confine  myself 
for  the  present,  to  a  few  brief  suggestions,  upon  one  of 
two  interesting  questions  connected  with  the  latter.  The 
object  of  the  domestic  policy  of  every  government,  in  its 
most  general  expression,  is  to  promote  the  welfare  and 
improvement  of  the  people,  by  all  the  just  and  consti- 


123 

tutional  means  within  its  power ;  and  considered  in  de 
tail,  it  presents  the  two  important  questions,  what  mea 
sures  will  tend  to  produce  these  effects,  and  what  are 
those  which  come  within  the  legitimate  action  of  the 
government.  It  is  obvious  that  both  will  admit  of  vari 
ous  answers,  according  to  the  economical  and  political 
situation  of  different  countries.  Laws,  that  would  be 
useful  in  some  nations,  may  be  pernicious  or  ineffectual 
in  others.  Measures,  that  would  be  oppressive  in  a  re 
public,  may  be  constitutional  and  just  in  a  despotism.  A 
correct  and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  character  and 
condition  of  the  people  is,  therefore,  the  basis  of  all  ju 
dicious  proceedings  in  the  administration  of  a  govern 
ment,  as  in  the  formation  of  it;  and  the  application  of 
this  knowledge  to  practice  must  be  directed,  by  a  just 
notion  of  the  general  tenets  of  political  science  and  of 
the  particular  institutions  of  the  country.  These  are  the 
solid  qualifications  of  a  good  legislator,  without  which 
eloquence  and  even  logic,  however  successfully  they 
may  recommend  their  possessor  to  the  public  favour, 
will  never  enable  him  to  accomplish  the  public  good. 

As  the  leading  principle  of  our  government  is  the  so 
vereignty  of  the  people,  the  genius  of  it,  as  respects  its 
internal  operation,  must  necessarily  be  to  leave  the 
greatest  possible  latitude  to  individual  action.  In  a  des 
potism,  every  thing  which  the  ruler  believes  to  be  of 
public  advantage  may  be  rightfully  done.  In  republics 
the  magistrates  exercise  a  delegated  power,  defined  and 
limited  by  written  instruments,  which  form  in  clear 
cases,  their  exclusive  rule  of  conduct.  In  doubtful  or 
discretionary  cases,  the  administration  of  such  govern- 


124 

ments  must  conform  to  their  spirit,  and  contemplate  the 
maintenance  and  extension  of  liberty.  If  this  rule  were 
inconvenient  in  practice,  or  injurious  in  its  effects  upon 
the  moral  or  economical  interests  of  the  people,  the  fact 
would  prove,  not  that  the  rule  was  erroneous,  but  that 
the  government  itself  was  thus  far  bad.  If,  on  the  con 
trary,  the  same  rule  which  is  prescribed  by  the  nature 
of  the  government  is  also  found  to  be  the  most  advanta 
geous  to  individuals,  that  could  be  adopted,  it  follows 
that  the  natural  operation  of  the  government  is  highly 
beneficial  and  the  government  itself  good.  Such  is 
fortunately  the  case  with  us.  The  maxim  of  leaving 
the  greatest  possible  liberty  to  individual  action,  which 
the  character  of  our  institutions  enjoins,  has  also  been 
declared  by  the  soundest  philosophers,  and  is  now  ge 
nerally  received  throughout  the  world,  as  the  one  most 
conducive  to  the  public  wealth  and  prosperity.  Laissez 
nous  faire,  was  the  well  known  answer  of  the  French 
merchants  to  Colbert,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Louis  XIV, 
who  sent  for  them  to  inquire,  what  they  wished  him  to 
do1  for  the  advancement  of  commerce.  This  laconic  reply 
was  quoted  and  commented  on,  with  high  approbation, 
by  Dr.  Franklin,  in  a  short  and  pithy  essay,  which  did 
much  to  makeit  popular.  It  was  afterwards  adopted  by 
Adam  Smith,  as  the  basis  of  his  treatise  on  the  wealth  of 
nations,  which  has  long  and  deservedly  been  regarded  as 
the  text  book  of  political  economy.  Finally,  the  govern 
ments  of  Europe,  which  had  pursued  for  centuries  an  op 
posite  system,  have  yielded  to  the  force  of  truth,  and 
are  fast  relaxing  the  shackles,  which  an  unwise  policy 
had  imposed  on  private  industry.  The  course  recom- 


125 

mended  by  the  genius  of  our  government,  is  therefore, 
in  this  respect,  precisely  the  same,  which  the  lights  of 
experience  and  reason  also  counsel ;  and  there  is  little 
doubt  that,  under  the  influence  of  such  a  combination  of 
powerful  motives,  it  will  always  be  in  future,  as  it  has 
*"  been  hitherto,  pursued  with  undeviating  steadiness. 

The  general  operation  of  this  principle,  in  practice, 
is  to  limit  the  internal  action  of  the  government  to  the 
maintenance  of  existing  rights,  and  to  entrust  to  every 
citizen  the  care  of  improving  his  condition  and  provid 
ing  for  his  comfort,  in  the  way  that  suits  him  best.  The 
community  secures  to  each  of  its  members  the  enjoy 
ment  of  the  fruits  of  his  labour,  but  leaves  him  wholly 
to  his  own  discretion,  in  regard  to  the  mode  of  applying 
it  and  consuming  its  products.  On  this  system,  the 
preservation  of  the  public  peace,  the  administration  of 
justice,  civil  and  criminal,  and  the  collection  of  the  re 
venue  form  the  principal  objects  of  domestic  policy;  and 
such  in  fact  they  are  and  always  have  been,  in  the 
theory  and  practice  of  our  government. 

There  have  been,  it  is  true,  some  remarkable  devia 
tions  from  this  course,  especially  as  respects  the  great 
and  interesting  subject  of  education.  The  instruction 
of  youth,  which,  on  this  principle,  is  a  matter  exclu 
sively  of  individual  concern,  has  always  been  in  every 
part  of  the  country  a  standing  object  of  legislation;  and 
the  opinion  that  it  should  be  so  considered,  is  evidently 
gaining  rather  than  losing  ground  among  us.  Mr. 
Jeiferson,  one  of  the  firmest  assertors  of  the  doctrine  of 
individual  liberty,  devoted  the  greater  part  of  his  time 
and  attention,  during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  to  the 


126 

establishment  of  a  university,  under  the  patronage  of 
the  state  of  Virginia,  and  in  one  of  his  last  published 
letters  to  Major  Cartwright  expresses  a  strong  wish  for 
the  institution  of  schools,  under  the  authority  of  go 
vernment,  in  all  the  civil  divisions  of  the  state.  Schools 
of  this  kind  have  always  existed  in  New  England,  and 
the  good  effects,  which  are  generally  thought  to  have 
resulted  from  them,  seem  to  justify  a  deviation  in  this 
respect  from  the  theory  of  the  government.  It  would 
be  possible,  perhaps,  to  mention  other  instances,  in 
which  similar  deviations  have  been  or  might  be  made 
with  advantage,  but  it  would  lead  me  too  far,  to  pursue 
the  subject  into  all  its  details.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  as  a 
general  rule,  everything  but  the  three  great  objects  spe 
cified  above,  and  especially  every  thing  connected  with 
the  application  of  labour  to  economical  purposes,  is 
abandoned  entirely  to  the  discretion  of  the  individual 
citizen. 

But  the  same  sound  and  enlightened  views  of  politi 
cal  economy,  which  lead  to  the  establishment  of  this 
great  principle,  also  indicate  one  great  exception  to  it, 
which  in  most  countries  admits  of  an  application  not 
much  less  extensive  than  the  rule  itself.  The  same 
policy,  which  enjoins  it  on  governments  not  to  attempt 
to  interfere  by  legislation  with  the  course  of  private  in 
dustry,  makes  it  their  duty  to  remedy  by  legislation 
the  evils  that  have  arisen,  from  preceding  injudicious 
attempts  of  this  description.  They  are  not  only'bound 
not  to  make  new  laws  on  these  subjects,  but  they  are 
bound  with  proper  caution,  and  in  the  exercise  of  a 
just  discretion,  and  a  due  regard  for  vested  rights  and 


127 

interests,  to  repeal  such  as  have  been  made  before ;  and 
where  a  mere  repeal  of  the  law  is  not  sufficient  to  reme 
dy  the  mischiefs  it  has  occasioned,  to  do  this  in  some 
Other  way.     When  war,  for  example,  which  is  a  state 
of  things  proceeding  from  the  act  of  government,  dis 
turbs  the  natural  direction  of  private  labour,  the  prin 
ciple  of  the  greatest  possible  liberty  of  individual  action 
loses  its  virtue,  and  can  never  recover  it  until  a  natural 
state  of  things  had  been  restored,  by  another  act  of  the 
government,  exerted  in  making  peace.    When  the  mer 
chants  of  the  United  States,  previously  to  the  late  war 
with  England,  complained  of  the  restrictions  imposed 
upon  their  labour  by  the  non-intercourse  and  embargo 
laws,  it  would  have  been  thought  mere  mockery,  if  the 
government  had  answered,  that  the  received  doctrines 
in  political  economy  did  not  admit  of  legislation  for  the 
encouragement  of  private  industry,  and  that  trade  would 
find  its  level.  The  merchants  would  have  replied,  with 
great  propriety,  that  they  could  not  enjoy  the  benefit  of 
the  principle,  until  the  government  had  first  restored, 
by  a  new  law,  the  natural  state  of  things  which  they  had 
disturbed  by  a  former  one.     In  the  same  way,  if  one  of 
the  starving  labourers  in  England  should  represent  to 
the  minister,  that  his  wages  did  not  enable  him  to  buy 
bread  for  himself  ai\d  his  family,  it  would  neither  be  hu 
mane  nor  wise  in  the  minister  to  answer,  that  the  value 
of  bread  is  regulated,  like  that  of  every  thing  else,  by 
the  amount  of  labour  employed  in  producing  it,  and  that 
the  government  have  no  means  of  changing  the  laws  of 
nature,  which  they  did  not  enact.     The  labourer  might 
well  reply,  that  if  the  government  would  repeal  the 


128 

corn  laws  and  the  taxes,  he  would  undertake  to  be  re 
sponsible  for  the  consequences  of  the  laws  of  nature. 
Legislation  on  economical  subjects,  however  unwise  for 
the  purpose  of  effecting  positive  good,  is,  therefore,  in 
many  cases,  not  only  wise  but  absolutely  indispensable, 
as  a  remedy  for  existing  evils  and  abuses.  This  prin 
ciple  is  perhaps  not  so  much  an  exception  to  that  of  in 
dividual  liberty  and  the  laissez  faire  policy,  as  a  deve 
lopment  and  application  of  it.  The  government  must 
not  only  let  the  citizen  have  his  own  way,  but  if  he  has 
unwisely  and  unjustly  been  taken  out  of  his  own  way,  it 
must  put  him  back  again,  before  it  can  require  him, 
with  propriety,  to  take  care  of  himself.  Nor  is  the  ne 
gative  act  of  repealing  the  existing  law  always  sufficient. 
When  the  vicious  consequences  of  it  have  become  habi 
tual,  it  is  often  necessary  and  of  course  politic,  to  coun 
teract  them  by  positive  enactments  of  an  opposite  kind. 
When  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  in  Holland  are  obstruct 
ed  by  ice,  they  break  down  the  dykes  that  form  their 
banks,  and  inundate  the  whole  country.  In  this  case,  it 
is  necessary,  in  order  to  remedy  the  mischief,  not  only 
that  the  obstruction  should  be  removed  and  the  old 
channels  opened,  but  that  the  new  ones  should  be  dam 
med  up.  And  so  it  may  be  at  times  with  the  course  of 
industry.  If,  in  consequence  of  injudicious  laws,  it  has 
been  driven  into  a  new  and  unnatural  direction,  it  may 
be  necessary,  in  order  to  restore  a  natural  state  of  things, 
not  only  to  revoke  these  laws,  but  to  enact  others  which 
may  check  the  fatal  habits  to  which  the  former  had 
given  rise.  If  a  government  had  been  sufficiently  unwise 
to  prohibit  its  subjects  from  owning  ships,  and  had  thus 


129 

thrown  the  whole  commerce  and  navigation  in  to  the  hands 
of  foreigners,  it  might  be  expedient,  upon  the  adoption 
of  a  better  system,  not  merely  to  repeal  the  old  prohibi 
tion,  but  to  counteract  its  consequences,  either  by  prohi 
biting  entirely  the  entry  of  foreign  vessels,  or  by  levying 
upon  them  and  their  cargoes  a  heavy  tonnage  and  dis 
criminating  duty ;  and  so  of  other  analogous  cases. 

The  field  of  this  remedial  legislation  on  economical 
subjects  (as  it  may  properly  be  called)  is  in  most  coun 
tries  a  very  extensive  one ;  and  considering  the  imper 
fection  of  our  nature,  and  the  scanty  share  of  wisdom 
that  is  habitually  applied,  throughout  the  world,  to  the 
purposes  of  government,  there  is  room  to  suppose  that 
it  will  not  very  soon  be  exhausted.  Existing  abuses  are 
perceived,  and  the  duty  of  reforming  them  is  felt ;  but 
the  new  law,  modified  as  it  is  by  the  passions,  interests, 
and  theories  of  the  legislator,  for  the  time  being,  though 
different  from  the  old  one,  is  not  always  better.  Posterity 
will  hardly  believe,  that  it  has  been  seriously  contem 
plated  as  a  relief  for  the  present  distresses  of  the  labour 
ers  in  England,  not  to  abolish  the  corn  laws  and  diminish 
the  taxes,  but  to  abolish  the  poor  laws  and  restrain  mar 
riage.  In  this  way  nations  that  have  once  been  cursed 
with  a  bad  constitution  and  laws,  move  round  for  ever  in 
a  vicious  circle,  out  of  which  (morally  speaking)  there 
is  no  possible  exit.  Such  is  now  the  case  with  almost 
all  the  governments  of  Europe.  Their  institutions  were 
formed  in  a  barbarous  age,  and  correspond,  in  general, 
very  correctly,  especially  in  their  economical  regulations, 
with  the  date  of  their  origin.  The  errors  and  abuses 
inherent  in  them  are  now  (in  some  Countries  at  least) 


130 

distinctly  perceived,  and  strong  efforts  are  making  in 
the  way  of  reform ;  but  it  still  remains  to  be  seen  whe 
ther  the  disease  or  the  remedy  will  prove  to  be  the 
greater  evil.  The  United  States  are  in  this  respect 
more  favourably  situated  than  any  other  Christian  na 
tion,  because  their  government  was  established  more 
recently,  and  was  originally  modelled,  in  general,  upon 
the  soundest  notions  of  the  most  judicious  practical  phi 
losophers.  With  us  there  is  almost  as  little  occasion  for 
repealing  old  laws  on  economical  subjects,  as  for  enact 
ing  new  ones.  When  Voltaire,  after  publishing  his  com 
mentary  on  Corneille,  was  asked  why  he  did  not  pre^ 
pare  a  similar  one  on  the  works  of  Racine,  he  replied, 
that  there  would  be  nothing  to  do,  but  to  write  at  the 
bottom  of  every  page,  Pulchre,  bene,  optime.  The  task 
of  a  commentator  on  the  economical  system  of  the  United 
States  is  nearly  the  same.  There  are,  however,  one  or 
two  questions  of  an  interesting  kind  connected  with  the 
subject,  which  have  been  at  times  matters  of  controversy, 
and  upon  which  I  shall  venture  to  propose  a  few  sug 
gestions*. 

Agriculture  and  commerce  are  the  two  branches  of 
industry,  which  have  hitherto  flourished  most  amongst 
us ;  and  the  signal  success  with  which  they  have  been 
prosecuted,  has  been  doubtless  owing,  in  a  great  mea 
sure,  to  the  absence  of  the  injudicious  and  oppressive 
restraints,  which  have  been  imposed  upon  them  by  au 
thority  of  government,  in  most  other  countries.  Agri 
culture,  which  constitutes  in  every  nation  the  ultimate 
source  of  wealth,  has  been  treated  in  most,  as  if  it  were 
a  thing  to  be  discouraged  rather  than  favoured.  The 


131 

basis  of  the  legislation  of  all  parts  of  Europe  on  this  sub 
ject,  until  very  recently,  and  of  most  at  present,  is  to 
limit  the  property  in  land  to  a  few  persons,  and  to  em 
barrass  the  circulation  of  it  from  one  to  another  as  much 
as  possible.  This  system  establishes  an  impossibility 
physical  and  moral,  that  the  land  should  be  cultivated, 
voluntarily  condemns  a  great  part  of  it  to  perpetual 
sterility,  and  diminishes  of  course,  to  the  same  extent, 
the  population,  wealth,  and  prosperity  of  the  state.  It 
is  sustained,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  certain  political 
objects  of  a  very  questionable  character;  and  so  rooted 
are  the  prejudices  of  the  European  statesmen  upon  this 
subject,  that  in  France,  a  country  which  by  the  effect  of 
revolution  had  once  been  fairly  delivered  from  the  sys 
tem,  the  dominant  party  are  at  this  moment  striving, 
with  all  their  power,  to  bring  it  back,  have  already  in 
part  succeeded,  and  will  probably  in  time  succeed  en 
tirely.  The  same  abuses  were  extended  by  the  Spanish 
government  to  their  American  possessions,  but  were  hap 
pily  never  introduced  into  the  United  States  to  such  a 
degree,  as  to  take  deep  root,  and  all  traces  of  them  have 
with  us  been  long  since  exterminated.  This  difference 
is  the  principal  cause  that  can  be  assigned  for  the  dif? 
ferent  progress  of  the  Spanish  and  British  colonies,  the 
former  having  been,  in  most  other  respects,  quite  as  well 
administered  as  the  latter,  and  in  some  much  better. 
The  new  Spanish  American  governments  have  already 
adopted  new  principles,  in  regard  to  the  tenure  and 
transfer  of  land,  which,  with  the  freedom  of  trade  that 
also  results  from  their  change  of  situation,  may  be  ex 
pected  to  produce,  as  soon  as  the  present  convulsions 


shall  be  over,  a  very  rapid   increase  of  population, 
wealth,  and  general  prosperity. 

Agriculture,  therefore,  having  always  been  with  us  en 
tirely  free  from  the  trammels  imposed  upon  it  by  the  in 
judicious  interference  of  government,  neither  requires, 
nor  would,  on  sound  principles  of  political  economy, 
admit  of  any  aid  from  direct  legislation.  Commerce  is 
nearly  in  the  same  condition.  It  is  true  that,  under  the 
colonial  system,  this  branch  of  our  industry  was  ham 
pered  with  some  restrictions ;  but  there  was  still  suffici 
ent  latitude  left  for  the  development  of  the  strong  natu 
ral  inclination  of  the  people  towards  this  employment  $ 
and  they  exhibited,  even  before  the  revolution,  an  apti 
tude  for  navigation  and  a  boldness  and  success  in  its  most 
hazardous  and  difficult  departments,  which  excited  the 
admiration  of  the  old  world,  and  were  publicly  declared, 
by  so  good  a  judge  as  Burke,  to  leave  all  parallel  be 
hind  them.  The  revolution  removed  the  shackles  of 
the  colonial  system,  and  opened  to  our  merchants  and 
navigators  the  trade  of  the  world.  A  judicious  discri 
minating  duty  in  their  favour  diminished  the  danger  of 
foreign  competition,  and,  although  the  country  has 
lately  shown  a  willingness  to  relinquish  it,  probably  pro 
duced  in  its  time  no  inconsiderable  good.  Finally,  the 
political  events  that  occurred  soon  after  in  Europe,  sin 
gularly  aided  the  progress  of  commercial  enterprise 
amongst  us,  and  gave  us,  after  a  while,  a  sort  of  pre 
eminence  in  this  branch  of  industry,  and  the  arts  con 
nected  with  it,  over  all  other  nations.  No  economical 
regulations  are  therefore  wanted  with  us  for  the  direct 
encouragement  of  commerce  and  agriculture;  both 


133 

which,  under  the  salutary  influence  of  a  wise  political 
system  and  great  natural  advantages,  have  flourished 
and  are  still  flourishing  beyond  all  precedent. 

There  is,  however,  one  way  in  which  the  community 
have  it  in  their  power  to  exercise  a  very  beneficial 
action  on  the  progress  of  both  these  great  departments 
of  labour,  and  that  is,  by  opening  and  maintaining  an 
easy  communication  between  the  different  parts  of  the 
country,  by  roads  and  canals.  This  is,  evidently,  more 
than  almost  any  other,  a  matter  of  common  concern, 
because  it  interests  the  people  exclusively  in  their  social 
capacity,  and  therefore  (although  it  does  not  come  di 
rectly  within  the  scope  of  either  of  the  three  great  divi 
sions  of  our  domestic  policy  alluded  to  above)  has  always 
been  regarded  with  us,  and  in  every  other  country,  as 
one  of  the  functions  of  government.  Government  ought, 
however,  to  regulate  its  proceedings  in  this  respect,  as 
it  naturally  does,  by  the  course  of  individual  enterprise; 
because  communications  become  necessary  and  conve 
nient,  only  in  proportion  as  the  country  is  explored  and 
settled.  This  power  has,  in  the  United  States,  been 
always  exercised  by  the  people,  through  the  concurrent 
instrumentality  of  all  classes  of  their  political  agents,  in 
the  local,  general,  and  state  governments.  The  muni 
cipal,  city,  and  county  authorities  throughout  the 
union,  regularly  lay  out  streets,  build  bridges,  and  open 
town  and  county  roads.  Roads  of  greater  extent,  and 
canals,  are  habitually  undertaken  either  by  the  state 
governments,  or  by  companies  incorporated  under  them; 
and  communications  of  a  national  character,  which  pass 
through  several  different  states,  have  been  in  repeated 


134       * 

instances  established  or  aided  by  the  general  govern 
ment.  This  mode  of  proceeding  is  so  perfectly  natural 
in  all  its  parts,  and  so  entirely  consonant  with  the  form 
and  genius  of  the  government,  that  it  seems  at  first  view 
surprising,  how  the  propriety  of  it  should  ever  have 
been  called  in  question.  It  has,  however,  as  is  well 
known,  been  doubted  by  many  very  able  and  judi 
cious  persons,  whether  the  general  government  possesses 
a  constitutional  right  to  exercise  any  agency  whatever 
in  the  matter;  and  in  the  various  discussions  that  have 
taken  place  upon  this  subject,  some  distinctions  have 
been  made,  which  would  do  honour  to  the  keenest  and 
most  practised  casuist.  It  has  been  said,  for  example, 
that  the  formal  specification  in  the  constitution  of  the 
right  of  congress  to  establish  post-roads,  does  not  give 
them  a  right  to  lay  out  such  roads,  but  only  to  designate, 
among  the  roads  laid  out  by  the  states  for  other  pur 
poses,  those  which  shall  be  used  for  the  carriage  of  the 
national  mail.  Again  it  has  been  said,  that  the  general 
government  has  the  right  of  applying  money  to  the 
making  of  roads  and  canals,  but  not  that  of  making  them 
itself;  as  if  any  body  ever  supposed  that  the  president 
and  two  houses  of  congress  were  to  turn  out  and  work  in 
person  on  the  highway,  as  a  part  of  their  official  duty. 
But  the  controversy  on  this  subject,  which  was  at  one 
time  carried  on  with  a  good  deal  of  activity,  has  of  late 
almost  wrholly  subsided,  and  the  points  in  dispute  appear 
to  have  been  settled  (in  the  only  way  in  which  contest 
ed  points  are  ever  amicably  settled)  by  the  lapse  of  time, 
and  the  gradual  subsidence  of  the  feelings  in  which  the 
difference  had  its  origin.  The  general  sentiment  of  the 


135 

country  is  more  decidedly  in  favour  of  forwarding,  in 
every  possible  way,  and  by  the  exercise  of  every  species 
of  rightful  power,  the  noble  work  of  facilitating  commu 
nication  among  the  citizens,  and  thus  encouraging  at 
once  the  progress  of  industry,  in  its  three  great  branches 
of  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  commerce.  The  wifl 
of  the  people  has  been  fully  declared  on  this  subject, 
and  their  agents,  who  generally  regard  their  will  as  the 
only  legitimate  source  of  power,  will  probably  feel  no 
difficulty  hereafter,  excepting  about  the  best  means  of 
carrying  it  into  effect.  The  development  of  the  spirit 
that  now  prevails  amongst  us,  respecting  this  matter, 
and  which  has  produced  already  the  most  magnificent 
results,  may  well  be  considered  as  one  of  the  most  for 
tunate  events  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

Of  the  three  great  branches  of  industry,  therefore, 
agriculture  and  commerce,  being  already  in  the  most  sa 
tisfactory  state,  and  having  long  since  been  relieved  from 
the  effect  of  all  the  restraints  that  were  ever  imposed 
upon  them,  neither  require  nor  would  admit  of  any  aid 
from  government,  other  than  that  to  which  I  have  just 
now  alluded,  and  which  results  from  facilitating  the 
communications  between  the  different  parts  of  the  coun 
try.  Manufactures,  the  other  principal  department  of 
labour,  are  somewhat  differently  situated.  They  have 
never  flourished,  as  they  naturally  ought  to  have  done, 
in  proportion  to  the  success  of  agriculture  and  com 
merce  ;  and  as  their  comparative  failure  has  perhaps 
been  owing,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  prohibitory  sys 
tem  enforced  upon  us,  while  colonies,  by  the  mother 
country,  and  its  consequences,  it  is  here,  if  any  where. 


136 

that  the  remedial  legislation  on  economical  subjects, 
which  I  mentioned  before  as  being  often  necessary, 
might  be  resorted  to  with  profit.  The  old  restrictions 
have,  it  is  true,  long  ceased  to  exist ;  but  if  the  habits 
generated  by  them  still  remain  and  are  found  too  inve 
terate  to  be  conquered  by  the  mere  healthy  action  of  na 
tural  causes,  it  may  be  necessary  and  politic  to  counter 
act  them  by  positive  measures,  which  would  otherwise, 
and  considered  in  themselves,  be  at  variance  with  just 
principles  and  with  the  rights  of  individuals.  As  this 
question  is  perhaps  the  most  interesting  and  delicate 
one,  connected  with  our  domestic  policy,  it  may  be  pro 
per  to  treat  it  somewhat  more  in  detail. 

Agriculture  is  the  first  object  of  attention  with  most 
new  colonies,  and  they  find  their  advantage,  for  a  con 
siderable  time  after  their  establishment,  in  exchanging 
the  surplus  products  of  the  earth,  for  the  manufactures 
of  older  countries,  instead  of  attempting  to  work  them 
up  at  home.  In  the  natural  course  of  things,  however,, 
the  increase  of  population  would  pretty  soon  effect  a 
change  in  this  particular,  and  would  render  it  more 
profitable  to  manufacture,  on  the  spot,  first  the  coarser 
and  most  necessary  articles,  which  on  all  accounts  should 
be  made  in  every  country  for  home  consumption,  and 
gradually  those  of  mere  convenience  and  luxury,  to 
which  the  soil  and  climate  might  be  favourable.  The 
British  colonies,  that  now  form  this  republic,  had  been 
established  and  had  flourished  for  a  century  and  a  half, 
at  the  period  of  the  separation,  and  ample  time  had  thus 
been  afforded  for  the  growth  of  manufacturing  industry ; 
but  the  system,  on  which  they  were  governed,  ordained 


137 

and  enforced  a  rigid  monopoly  in  favour  of  the  products 
of  the  mother  country,  and  absolutely  prohibited  all 
manufactures  whatever  in  the  colonies.     Hence  the  en 
terprise  and  industry  of  the  people  were  wholly  direct 
ed  to  the  cultivation  of  the  earth,  and  the  exchange  of 
its  products  for  the  fabrics  of  England.     It  is  only, 
therefore,  within  the  last  half  century,  that  the  general 
causes  which  regulate  the  economical  situation  of  a  coun 
try,  have  had  opportunity  to  produce  their  natural  effect 
in  ours ;  and  during  the  greater  part  of  even  this  peri 
od,  the  political  condition  of  the  world  has  imposed  an 
effective  check,  upon  the  growth  of  manufactures,  near^ 
ly  as  complete  as  that  created  by  the  previous  colonial 
restrictions.     While  the  war  of  independence  lasted, 
the  country  was  of  course  in  a  state  of  disorder,  and  no 
progress  could  be  made  in  any  branch  of  industry.  Se 
veral  years  of  peace  elapsed,  before  the  people  reco 
vered  from  the  impoverishment  and  exhaustion  pro 
duced  by  the  struggle,  and  after  reforming  and  finally 
settling  the  government,  began  to  find  opportunity  to 
attend  to  business.     The  new  disposable  capital,  creat 
ed  precisely  at  this  time,  by  the  funding  of  the  nation 
al  debt,  gave  a  great  impulse  to  industry,  and  a  rapid 
progress  would  naturally  have  taken  place  in  domestic 
manufactures.    Just  at  this  period,  however,  the  war 
broke  out  in  Europe,  and  threw  into  the  hands  of  our 
merchants  a  monopoly  of   the  carrying  trade  of  the 
world.     The  new  capital  created  by  the  funding  of  the 
debt,  was  also  principally  in  their  possession ;  and  it 
was  a  matter  of  course,  under  these  circumstances,  that 
they  should  employ  it  in  extending  their  operations,  in 

18 


138 

the  branch  of  industry  to  which  they  were  accustom 
ed.     They  accordingly  entered,  with  prodigious  activi 
ty  and  enterprise,  into  the  field  of  commercial  specula 
tion  which  was  thus  opened  to  them,  and  most  of  them 
realised  very  large  and  rapid  profits.     No  event  per 
haps  could  have  occurred,  more  favourable,  on  the  whole, 
than  this,  to  the  industry  of  the  country  ;  but  the  first 
effects  of  it  were  felt  exclusively  in  commerce  and  agri 
culture  ;  and  while  this  state  of  things  lasted,  (which 
was  up  to  the  time  of  the  non- intercourse  and  embargo 
laws,)  manufactures  continued,  of  course,  in  nearly  the 
same  quiescent  state  as  before.     The  restrictive  system, 
and  the  war  with  England,  which  followed  it,  discour 
aged  commerce,  aiid  gave  an  active  spur  to  manufac 
tures,  which  was  felt  at  once.     Establishments  of  all 
kinds  started  up  like  mushrooms,  during  this  short  pe 
riod  ;  but  were  mostly  ruined  again,  in  consequence  of 
the  immense  supplies  thrown  in,  immediately  after  the 
peace,  by  the  British.  The  distresses  resulting  from  this 
check,  cast  a  temporary  damp  upon  the  business,  from 
which  it  has  been  since  gradually  and  slowly  recover 
ing  ;  so  that  there  has  been  in  fact  no  period,  from  the 
first  foundation  of  the  colonies,  up  to  the  present  day, 
or  at  least  to  the  last  five  or  six  years,  in  which  there 
has  not  been  some  powerful  political  cause,  constantly 
exercising  an  influence  against  this  particular  branch  of 
industry.     Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  just  as  na 
tural  that  manufactures  should  not  have  flourished  among 
us,  as  it  would  have  been  singular,  if  there  had  been 
nothing  extraordinary  to  prevent  them.    It  is  therefore, 
I  imagine,  to  these,  and  not  to  economical  causes,  as 


139 

some  have  supposed,  that  we  ought  to  attribute  the  low 
state  of  our  domestic  fabrics.  It  is  true,  that  the  wages 
of  labour  are  higher  with  us,  than  in  Europe  ;  but  this 
circumstance,  which  operates  with  equal  force  in  navi 
gation,  has  not  prevented  us  from  taking  the  lead  of 
all  other  nations  on  the  ocean  ;  nor  are  the  wages  of  la 
bour  at  present  one  of  the  heaviest  items,  in  the  cost  of 
the  production  of  most  of  the  articles,  which  we  re 
ceive  from  Europe  and  especially  from  England.  The 
difference  would  be  more  than  counterbalanced,  in  most 
cases,  by  the  expense  of  transportation ;  but  when  the 
political  situation  of  a  country  holds  out  an  immense 
bounty,  in  favour  of  the  investment  of  capital  in  a  par 
ticular  way,  it  will  necessarily  take  that  direction,  al 
though  there  may  be  other  modes,  which  would  afford 
a,  real  and  equally  sure,  but  smaller  profit. 

The  political  causes  alluded  to  having  now  ceased  to 
operate,  we  may  reasonably  expect  an  early  and  rapid 
advancement  of  our  manufactures.  The  return  of  peace, 
although  it  removed  the  restraints  on  foreign  commerce 
that  existed  during,  and  for  some  time  previous  to  the 
war,  has  not  restored  to  our  merchants  the  monopoly  of 
the  carrying  trade  of  the  world.  This  employment, 
therefore,  instead  of  affording  opportunity  for  the  invest 
ment  of  additional  capital,  will  not  hereafter  occupy  all 
that  was  engaged  in  it  before.  In  the  meantime,  the 
payment  of  the  national  debt,  which  is  now  going  on 
with  rapidity,  is  constantly  disengaging  large  amounts 
of  property,  which  must  be  re-invested,  in  one  form  or 
another.  It  is  said  that,  in  the  single  city  of  Boston, 
no  less  than  seven  millions  of  dollars  have  been  paid  off 


140 

in  this  way,  in  one  year.  As  neither  commerce  nor 
agriculture  hold  out  at  present  very  flattering  prospects 
for  new  investments,  and  as  manufactures,  on  the  other 
hand,  if  there  be  any  truth  in  reasoning  and  experience, 
must  afford  large  and  constantly  increasing  profits,  these 
immense  sums  will  naturally,  for  the  most  part,  take  this 
direction.  We  find  accordingly,  that,  within  the  last 
five  or  six  years,  manufactures  have  advanced  with  as 
tonishing  rapidity,  in  all  the  northern  part  of  the  union, 
and  especially  in  New  England,  which  will  probably  be, 
in  the  end,  their  principal  seat.  Upon  returning  lately 
to  this  country,  after  an  absence  of  five  years,  I  was  not 
less  astonished  than  delighted  to  witness  the  visible  signs 
of  this  progress,  and  to  find  flourishing  villages  and  even 
considerable  towns  springing  up,  as  if  by  enchantment, 
on  spots  that  were  recently  uninhabited.  At  Lowell, 
in  Massachusetts,  where  there  were  not,  if  I  am  rightly 
informed,  more  than  one  or  two  dwelling  houses  in  1820, 
I  found  in  the  spring  of  1825  a  population  of  fifteen 
hundred  souls,  wholly  engaged  in  manufactures ;  and  it 
was  the  opinion  of  persons,  who  had  the  means  of  judg 
ing  correctly,  that  ten  years  would  add  another  cypher 
to  the  number.  Similar  results  may  be  observed  at 
Weare,  Springfield,  Dover,  Somersworth,  and  various 
other  places ;  and  in  short,  the  spirit  that  produced  them 
is  active  through  the  whole  country.  The  skill  and 
judgment  with  which  the  establishment  at  Waltham  has 
been  conducted,  and  the  large  profits  that  have  been 
constantly  obtained  there,  have  done  much  and  in  the 
best  way,  to  encourage  this  spirit,  and  give  it  a  proper 
direction.  The  founders  of  that  establishment,  though 


141 

governed,  no  doubt,  immediately  by  an  enlightened  re 
gard  to  their  own  interest,  may  well  be  considered  as 
public  benefactors. 

It  is  difficult,  indeed,  to  estimate  too  highly  the  bene 
fits  that  will  result  to  the  union,  from  the  rapid  progress 
and  great  extension  which  we  have  now  reason  to  ex 
pect  in  this  branch  of  industry.  They  are  so  important 
and  various,  that  it  would  demand  an  entire  work  to  give 
a  proper  development  of  them  all,  and  I  must  therefore 
content  myself,  at  present,  with  a  hasty  indication  of 
some  of  the  principal.  The  political  advantage  of  a 
more  independent  position,  as  respects  foreign  nations, 
will  be  justly  considered  as  of  no  small  value,  by  those 
who  recollect  the  inconveniences  that  arose  from  a  dif 
ferent  situation,  during  the  late  war  with  England,  but 
is  inferior  in  magnitude  to  those  of  an  economical  cha 
racter,  upon  which  I  proceed  to  make  a  few  remarks. 

In  every  community,  the  wants  of  the  people  are  re 
gularly  supplied  by  the  co-operation  of  the  three  great 
branches  of  industry,  in  proportions  determined  by  the 
degree  of  civilization.  The  three  classes  of  labourers, 
which  are  respectively  engaged  in  them  all,  derive  their 
subsistence  from  the  products  of  agriculture,  and  must 
receive  their  share  alike,  whether  they  dwell  within  or 
without  the  country.  If  they  all  reside  together,  as 
constituent  parts  of  one  community,  they  consume  at 
home  the  products  of  the  labour  of  the  whole,  and  the 
population  is  then  in  its  natural  state.  If  either  live 
abroad,  it  still  consumes  the  same  amount  as  before  of 
the  products  of  the  community,  for  which  it  works,  and 
the  population  of  the  latter  is  of  course  regularly  smaller 


in  the  same  proportion.  If  we  suppose,  for  example, 
(what  is  perhaps  not  exactly  the  case)  that  the  three 
classes  of  labourers  are  regularly  equal  in  number,  then 
a  community  that  receives  its  manufactures  from  abroad, 
will  be  less  populous,  by  one-third,  than  it  would  be  if 
they  were  all  supplied  at  home.  Beside  this,  the  labour 
required  for  exchanging  the  products  of  the  two  classes 
of  workmen,  now  belonging  to  two  distinct  communities, 
will  regularly  divide  itself  between  them,  and  the  agri 
cultural  country  will  thus  lose  half  its  commercial,  in 
addition  to  the  whole  of  its  manufacturing  population. 
The  distance  at  which  the  exchanges  are  made,  being 
now  greater,  it  requires  a  greater  amount  of  labour  than 
before  to  effect  them,  or,  in  other  words,  to  carry  on  the 
necessary  commerce ;  so  that  if  this  branch  of  industry 
before  occupied  a  third  of  the  labourers,  it  will  now  oc 
cupy  more.  On  this  first  and  simplest  view  of  the  effects 
on  a  community  of  the  absence  of  domestic  manufac 
tures,  there  is,  therefore,  a  loss  of  more  than  half  of  the 
natural  population.  But  the  natural  population  of  every 
country  is  the  true  measure  of  its  wealth,  property,  and 
political  importance,  and  a  community  thus  situated, 
sustains,  in  each  of  these  respects,  a  positive  loss  of  half 
its  natural  advantages.  But  this  is  not  all.  The  labourers 
thus  lost  swell  in  the  same  proportion  the  population  of 
some  other  country,  by  necessity  one  with  which  the 
losing  people  had  a  close  relation.  If  the  elements  of 
wealth  and  power  belonging  to  the  two  countries  be  na 
turally  the  same,  and  their  relative  force  of  course  equal, 
one  now  gains  and  the  other  loses  more  than  half  of  their 
amount,  and  their  relative  forces  become  as  three  and 


143 

one.  Thus,  (on  this  supposition)  the  absence  of  domes 
tic  manufactures  deprives  a  country  of  half  its  positive 
and  two- thirds  of  its  relative  importance,  degrades  it 
of  course  from  its  rank  among  the  nations,  and  places  it 
at  the  mercy  of  powers,  to  which  it  is  naturally  equal, 
and  with  which  it  has  the  closest  connexion. 

It  is  commonly  said  indeed,  by  those  who  are  less  sen 
sible  of  the  importance  of  domestic  manufactures,  that 
there  is  in  such  a  case  only  a  fair  exchange  of  values : 
that  if  one  community  supplies  agricultural  and  another 
manufactured  products  sufficient  for  the  consumption  of 
both,  and  they  divide  between  them  the  labour  of  effect 
ing  the  exchanges,  the  result  will  be  precisely  the  same 
as  if  each  produced  exclusively  for  itself;  that  there  will 
be  neither  gain  nor  loss  on  either  side,  or  at  worst  no 
loss  but  the  waste  of  commercial  labour,  resulting  from 
the  increased  distance  at  which  the  exchanges  are  made, 
and  that  this  will  probably  be  found  to  be  more  than 
counterbalanced  by  some  accidental  advantage;  for  that 
if  it  were  not,  the  arrangement  could  not  take  place. 
Such  is  the  argument,  upon  which  the  anti- manufactur 
ing  party  rely,  as  a  full  defence  and  justification  of  their 
system.  Their  reasoning  would  in  fact  be  sufficient  for 
their  purpose,  if  it  were  true  that  the  agricultural  la 
bour  of  a  manufacturing  community  is  regularly  dimi 
nished,  in  the  same  proportion  in  which  it  supplies 
foreign  countries  with  the  products  of  arts.  It  will  be 
found,  however,  on  the  contrary,  on  examination,  that 
in  the  case  supposed,  the  exchange  that  takes  place  is 
wholly  to  the  advantage  of  the  manufacturing,  and  at  the 
expense  of  the  agricultural  community. 


144 

It  ih  necessary,  in  fact,  before  a  community  can  export 
manufactures  to  any  considerable  extent,  that  its  agricul 
tural  population  should  have  reached  its  natural  limit, 
which  is  determined  in  every  country  by  the  extent  of 
the  territory,  taken  in  connexion  with  the  political  in 
stitutions  and  the  state  of  civilization.  Until  that  time 
arrives,  manufactures  naturally  follow  agriculture,  and 
the  home  market  is  so  much  the  more  profitable  than  the 
foreign,  as  to  prevent  any  great  exportation.  It  is  only 
when  the  population  has  reached  its  natural  limits,  and 
the  home  market  afforded  by  it  is  supplied  with  manu 
factures,  that  exportation  begins.  We  find  accordingly 
that  all  the  great  manufacturing  and  exporting  commu 
nities  have  always  been  states  of  limited  territory  and 
dense  population.  Now  the  extension  of  manufactures 
and  commerce,  that  takes  place  in  a  country  after  its  po 
pulation  has  reached  the  natural  limits,  is  all  clear  and 
positive  gain.  There  is  no  diminution,  but  on  the  con 
trary  an  increase  of  agricultural  labour,  since  there  must 
be  an  improvement  in  the  home  market  for  its  products, 
at  least  equal  to  the  charges  of  importing  them.  In  this 
respect,  therefore,  there  is  no  loss.  On  the  other  hand, 
every  labourer  employed  in  preparing  manufactures  for 
foreign  markets,  and  maintained  in  turn  by  the  labour 
of  foreigners,  is  a  new  citizen  acquired  by  the  state,  who 
could  not  exist  in  it  without  he  were  thus  employed, 
and  the  profits  of  his  labour  are  a  clear  addition  to  the 
national  wealth.  In  this  way  a  nation  may  extend  its 
population,  wealth,  and  political  importance,  almost  in 
definitely,  and  may  even  build  up,  upon  a  narrow  basis, 
a  positive  power  sufficient  for  a  time  to  awe  the  world. 


145 

Compare,  for  example,  the  present  situation  of  Old  and 
New  England.  Their  extent  of  territory  and  other 
natural  advantages,  including  the  character  of  the  peo 
ple,  are  nearly  the  same.  New  England  contains  above 
a  million  inhabitants,  and  old  England  about  twenty 
millions,  and  the  difference  between  the  wealth  and  po 
litical  importance,  belonging  to  them  respectively,  is  at 
least  as  great.  The  principal  reason  of  it  is  the  supe 
rior  extension  of  industry,  chiefly  in  the  two  branches 
of  manufactures  and  commerce,  that  has  taken  place  in 
the  mother  country. 

In  an  agricultural  community,  which  receives  its  ma 
nufactures  from  abroad,  the  state  of  things  produced  is 
precisely  the  reverse  of  the  one  just  described.  While 
there  is  no  diminution  of  agricultural  labour  in  conse 
quence  of  the  export  of  manufactures,  there  is,  on  the 
contrary,  in  the  agricultural  community,  which  receives 
them,  an  actual  diminution  of  manufacturing  labour  to 
the  same  extent.  In  one  case  population,  after  reaching 
its  natural  limit,  goes  on  increasing,  in  exact  proportion 
to  the  extension  of  industry.  In  the  other,  it  is  not 
permitted  to  attain  its  natural  limit,  but  is  reduced,  as 
I  have  shown  above,  to  less  than  half  of  its  proper  amount. 
Every  individual  who  comes  to  maturity,  after  it  has  ar 
rived  at  this  artificial  boundary,  is  compelled  to  emi 
grate,  and  is  lost  to  the  country. 

It  is  sometimes  thought,  that  if  manufactures  import 
ed  from  abroad  can  be  sold  cheaper  than  similar  articles 
made  at  home,  there  will  be  of  course  a  profit  in  import 
ing  them,  equivalent  to  the  difference.  If  this  could  in 
fact  be  done,  it  must  be  by  the  result  of  some  accident, 

19 


146 

since  the  charge  of  importation  must  always  raise  the 
price  of  the  foreign  article.  But  admitting  the  fact,  let 
us  examine,  for  a  moment,  the  supposed  advantages  of 
obtaining  manufactures  from  abroad,  at  a  somewhat  reduc 
ed  price.  Let  us  imagine,  for  example,  that  we  get  them 
at  half  the  cost;  that  is,  that  instead  of  giving  one- third 
of  the  products  of  the  agricultural  labour  of  the  commu 
nity  in  exchange  for  them,  we  obtain,  by  procuring 
them  from  abroad,  an  equal  quantity  for  one  sixth.  In 
this  case,  there  will  be  an  economy  of  one  sixth  of  the 
labour  of  the  community,  which  will  operate  in  one  of 
three  different  ways,  by  occasioning  either  a  diminution 
of  labour,  an  increase  of  consumption,  or  an  increase  of 
population,  in  the  same  ratio.  But  the  absence  of  do 
mestic  fabrics  which  produces  this  benefit,  also  produces 
a  standing  positive  loss  to  the  community  equivalent  to 
more  than  one- half  of  its  labour  and  resources  for  the 
time  being.  If  then  we  set  off  the  gain  against  the  loss, 
the  result  will  be,  not  that  we  really  gain  anything,  in 
consequence  of  the  superior  cheapness  of  the  foreign  ar 
ticle,  but  that  we  lose  something  less.  If  it  were  possi 
ble  to  obtain  our  manufactures  from  abroad  for  nothing, 
our  population,  wealth,  and  political  importance,  would 
then  be  precisely  the  same  as  if  we  made  them  at  home. 
On  every  supposition  excepting  this,  which  is  of  course 
absurd,  the  want  of  domestic  manufactures  occasions  a 
positive  loss,  corresponding  with  the  value  of  the  labour 
required  for  supplying  them. 

These  principles,  incontestable  I  apprehend  as  gene 
ral  truths,  are  of  course  modified  in  the  case  of  each 
particular  country,  by  the  circumstances  in  which  it  is 


147 

placed,  and  have  hitherto  had  little  or  no  direct  appli 
cation  to  the  United  States.  Although  we  have  received 
our  manufactures  from  abroad,  the  extent  of  our  terri 
tory  and  the  scantiness  of  our  population,  in  proportion 
to  it,  have  thus  far  prevented  us  from  sustaining,  in  con 
sequence,  any  considerable  loss  of  wealth  or  political 
importance.  There  has  been,  no  doubt,  a  diminution 
of  domestic  manufacturing  labour,  corresponding  with 
the  amount  of  manufactures  imported ;  but  the  labourers 
withdrawn  from  this  branch  of  industry  have  not  been 
obliged  to  quit  the  country,  but  have  all  been  taken  up 
by  agriculture,  and  the  population  has  on  the  whole  in 
creased  as  rapidly,  as  it  could  have  done  under  any  cir 
cumstances.  '  Our  case,  therefore,  forms  an  exception 
from  the  general  rule,  and  the  reason  is,  because  our 
population  has  not  yet  attained  its  natural  limit.  For  the 
same  reason,  the  greater  cheapness  of  the  foreign  arti 
cle,  which  in  general  does  not  occasion  any  actual  profit, 
but  merely  some  alleviation  of  a  standing  positive  loss, 
has  been  with  us  a  source  of  real  gain,  because  in  our 
case  there  is  no  positive  loss  resulting  from  the  same 
cause  to  set  off  against  it.  In  stating  the  above  princi 
ples,  I  have,  therefore,  had  it  in  view,  rather  to  eluci 
date  the  general  theory  of  the  subject,  (which  is  neces 
sary  for  a  correct  understanding  of  the  exception  as  well 
as  the  rule,)  than  to  apply  them  directly  to  the  case  of 
our  country.  But  even  with  us  there  are  several  very 
serious  inconveniences  attending  the  present  state  of  in 
dustry,  which  I  shall  now  briefly  recapitulate;  and  which, 
as  the  agriculture  of  the  country  has  already  obtained 
as  great  an  extension  as  we  need  for  the  present  to  wish, 


148 

make  it  extremely  important,  that  labour  should  be  di 
rected  in  future,  as  much  as  possible,  to  the  channels  of 
manufactures  and  internal  commerce. 

The  first  and  most  obvious  of  the  inconveniences  al 
luded  to,  is  the  waste  of  commercial  labour,  produced 
by  carrying  across  an  ocean  three  thousand  miles  wide, 
the  bulky  agricultural  products,  that  must  be  given  in 
exchange  for  the  manufactures  we  import,  and  bringing 
back  the  latter  in  turn  from  the  same  distance.  This 
waste  would  be  attended,  in  general,  as  I  have  stated 
before,  by  an  actual  loss  of  half  the  commercial  popu 
lation  naturally  belonging  to  the  country,  because  the 
labour  of  effecting  exchanges  between  communities  thus 
situated,  would  regularly  divide  itself  between  them. 
But  the  singular  aptitude  of  our  citizens  for  the  pur 
suits  of  navigation,  has  thus  far  left,  in  their  hands,  al 
most  the  whole  of  this  branch  of  industry,  and  has  pre 
vented  us  from  suffering,  on  this  account,  any  actual 
loss.  On  the  other  hand,  the  waste  of  labour,  which 
is  incontestable,  may  fairly  be  considered  as  more 
than  counterbalanced,  first  by  the  profit  resulting  to 
the  community,  from  the  greater  cheapness  of  the  for 
eign  article,  and  secondly  by  the  encouragement  which 
a  flourishing  and  extensive  commercial  navy  affords  to 
the  public  naval  establishments,  which  are  indispensa 
ble  for  the  protection  of  our  national  rights  and  hon 
our.  The  distance  from  which  we  receive  our  manu 
factures,  considered  merely  as  creating  an  extension  of 
foreign  commerce,  may  therefore  be  viewed,  under  all 
the  circumstances  of  our  case,  as  a  positive  advantage 
rather  than  an  evil. 


149 

The  great  real  economical  inconvenience,  resulting 
from  the  present  state  of  things,  is  the  uncertainty  of 
all  speculations,  founded  on  the  supposed  situation  of 
distant  markets,  and  the  constant  fluctuation  which  is 
thus  introduced  directly  into  commerce  and  indirectly 
into  the  whole  industry  of  the  country.  The  home 
market  is,  in  general,  fixed  and  certain.  Its  extent 
may  be  calculated,  and  the  probable  increase  or  di 
minution  of  demand  foretold  with  sufficient  exactness. 
Nor  is  it  materially  affected  by  political  accidents. 
Foreign  commerce,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  sort  of  game 
in  which  fortune  exercises  at  least  as  much  influence  as 
prudence  and  skill.  All  calculations  connected  with  it, 
are  not  only  more  or  less  uncertain  at  the  time  of  their 
inception,  but  are  continually  liable  to  be  defeated  by 
events  that  may  intervene  before  their  results  can  be 
realized.  The  whole  capital  invested  in  this  pursuit,  and 
with  it  the  happiness  of  its  owners  and  their  families, 
lies  at  the  mercy  of  political  events,  or  in  other  words, 
of  the  caprice  and  violence  of  foreign  powers.  We 
cast  our  bread  upon  the  waters,  but  whether  in  this 
case  it  ever  returns  again  after  many  days,  is  a  matter 
of  chance.  When  we  have  covered  the  sea  with  our 
products,  a  wanton  belligerent  (and  some  war  is  always 
going  on  in  one  quarter  or  another)  issues  a  decree,  and 
sweeps  the  whole  into  his  own  coffers.  We  remon 
strate—negotiate — go  to  war  perhaps — possibly,  after 
the  lapse  of  twenty  or  thirty  years,  obtain  some  par 
tial  satisfaction.  In  the  mean  time,  the  unfortunate 
individuals  who  were  plundered,  have  seen  their  pros 
pects  blasted  for  life,  and  gone  down  in  sorrow  with 


150 

their  wives  and  children  to  the  grave.  No  associations 
can  stand  the  force  of  these  fatal  shocks.  Banks  and 
Insurance  companies  sink  under  them  like  private  for 
tunes.  The  only  effectual  remedy,  is  the  one  employed 
by  England,  of  maintaining  a  public  navy  sufficiently 
strong  to  command  the  ocean  and  defy  attack  from  any 
quarter ;  but  the  burden  which  such  an  establishment 
imposes  on  private  industry,  makes  the  remedy  nearly 
as  bad  as  the  disease. 

Independently  of  the  violent  attacks  to  which  the 
capital  employed  in  these  exchanges  is  exposed,  the 
mere  circumstance  of  dealing  with  foreign  markets  at 
a  distance,  creates  a  disastrous  uncertainty  in  the  whole 
business.     In  a  time  of  war,  the  most  extensive  Euro 
pean  and  colonial  markets  are  thrown  open  to  our  flour 
and  provisions ;  and  our  cultivators  extend  their  enter 
prises  in  all  directions,  for  years  perhaps  in  succession. 
Peace  comes  at  length,  and  all  these  markets  are  herme 
tically  sealed.     Flour  falls  from  ten  or  fifteen  dollars  a 
barrel,  to  three  or  four,  and  ruin  stalks  at  large  through 
the  fair  plantations  of  the  United  States.     Again  a  pa 
nic  is  felt  in  England,  on  account  of  a  supposed  defi 
ciency  in  the  supply  of  cotton  actually  on  hand,  and  the 
value  of  the  article  takes  a  sudden  rise.     Our  specu 
lating  merchants,  incapable  of  estimating  the  correctness 
of  the  opinion  that  occasions  it,  go  on  buying  for  expor 
tation  at  extravagant  prices.     Immense  supplies  arrive 
in  Europe.     In  the  mean  time  the  imagined  deficiency 
is  found  to  be  of  little  or  no  importance.     The  market 
is  overstocked  and  the  merchants  are  ruined.     Finally 
we  are  forced  ourselves,  into  a  war  with  England,  and 


151 

the  usual  supply  of  foreign  manufactures  is  checked. 
Immediately  large  amounts  of  capital,  following  the  di 
rection  which  they  would  naturally  take  in  time  of 
peace — were  it  not  for  the  very  peculiar  circumstances 
in  which  our  country  had  been  placed — are  invested  in 
domestic  establishments  which  are  to  make  up  the  de 
ficiency.  Every  thing  goes  on  prosperously  until  the 
war  comes  to  a  close.  Within  a  few  months  after,  our 
markets  are  inundated  with  British  goods,  cheaper  than 
we  can  make  them,  of  equal  quality,  and  our  manufac 
tures  are  involved  in  their  turn  in  one  common  ruin. 
It  is  in  this  way  that  the  fluctuations  incident  to  these 
distant  and  uncertain  exchanges,  reach  successively  all 
the  great  branches  of  industry.  The  effects  I  have  de 
scribed  are  not  accidental,  but  the  regular  consequences 
of  the  state  of  things  which  produced  them,  and  will 
continue  to  recur  from  time  to  time  as  long  as  this  state 
shall  last.  No  foresight,  prudence,  or  probity,  furnishes 
the  means  of  avoiding  them ;  and  so  extensive  with  us 
have  been  the  disasters  they  have  occasioned  within  the 
last  ten  or  fifteen  years,  that  there  are  probably  very 
few  individuals  in  the  country  who  have  not  felt  them 
within  the  circle  of  their  own  immediate  connexions.  It 
is  true,  that  wherever  there  is  hazard  there  is  also  gain 
as  well  as  loss,  but  one  result  is  hardly  less  pernicious 
than  the  other,  though  in  a  different  way.  Large  and 
sudden  fortunes,  whether  considered  in  their  effects  on 
the  party  immediately  obtaining  them  or  on  the  com 
munity,  are  fatal  to  good  morals  and  regular  habits  of 
industry.  These,  on  the  contrary,  are  promoted  by  a 
course  of  trade,  which,  when  carried  on  with  honesty 


152 

and  judgment,  produces  slow  and  moderate  but  certain 
profits;  and  such  is  the  one  which  naturally  takes  place, 
where  the  three  great  branches  of  industry  furnish  each 
other  with  a  reciprocal  home  market  for  their  respec 
tive  products. 

The  constant  and  ruinous  fluctuation,  which  the  want 
of  domestic  manufactures  introduces  into  the  whole 
economical  concerns  of  the  country,  is  therefore  the  first 
great  practical  evil  it  occasions,  and  is  itself  one  of  suf 
ficient  magnitude  to  make  us  anxiously  desire,  on  this 
account  alone,  a  different  state  of  things.  But  this  in 
convenience  is  not  the  only  one.  In  the  preceding  re 
marks,  I  have  supposed  throughout  that  the  quantity  of 
manufactures  consumed  in  the  country  is  the  same,  whe 
ther  we  import  them  from  abroad  or  make  them  at 
home.  But  this  is  probably  far  from  being  the  case; 
and  another  unfortunate  effect  of  the  same  cause  is  a 
greatly  diminished  consumption,  attended  with  a  cor 
responding  injury  to  the  civilization  and  general  welfare 
of  the  people. 

The  necessity  of  this  result  is  easily  seen.  The  ex 
change  which  regularly  takes  place  between  the  two 
classes  of  agricultural  and  manufacturing  labourers,  is 
that  of  the  means  of  subsistence  for  the  products  of  art. 
The  cultivator  feeds  the  manufacturer,  who  supplies 
him  in  turn  with  articles  of  use  and  comfort.  But  this 
exchange  can  never  take  place  to  any  great  extent,  ex 
cepting  where  the  two  classes  are  situated  in  the  neigh 
bourhood  of  each  other,  and  belong  to  the  same  poli 
tical  society.  Provisions  are  too  bulky,  and  in  most 
cases  too  perishable,  to  bear  transportation  from  one 


quarter  of  the  globe  to  the  other.  If  not  consumed  on 
the  spot  where  they  are  raised,  they  cannot  be  consumed 
at  all.  Or  even  were  it  possible  to  surmount  this  diffi 
culty,  it  is,  and  always  will  be,  the  standing  policy  of 
most  countries  to  interdict  their  exportation.  Such  is 
the  existing  situation  of  things  as  between  the  United 
States  and  Europe.  What  then  follows?  Our  cultiva 
tors  have  in  most  parts  of  the  country,  and  in  the  usual 
state  of  commerce,  nothing  to  offer  in  exchange  for 
foreign  manufactures,  and  of  course  no  means  whatever 
of  obtaining  them.  The  whole  manufacturing  popula 
tion  of  the  old  world  is  represented  in  each  separate 
precinct  of  our  territory,  by  a  few  shop-keepers ;  and 
the  amount  of  agricultural  products  consumed  by  their 
families  is  the  only  reciprocal  demand  upon  a  county  or 
township  of  our  cultivators,  created  by  their  whole  con 
sumption  of  European  fabrics,  which  under  these  cir 
cumstances  must  of  course  reduce  itself  to  nothing.  In 
some  particular  sections  of  the  union,  the  inconveni 
ences  of  this  state  of  things  are  partially  relieved,  by  an 
extensive  cultivation  of  the  materials  employed  by  the 
European  manufacturers,  which  will  bear  transportation 
on  account  of  the  great  profits  obtained  by  working 
them  up,  and  which,  not  being  the  growth  of  Europe, 
must  of  course  be  admitted.  These  articles,  principally 
cotton,  with  some  other  agricultural  products,  such  as 
rice  and  tobacco,  to  which  our  climate  and  soil  are 
more  favourable  than  those  of  Europe,  pay  for  the 
foreign  manufactures  which  we  in  fact  consume.  The 
transportation  is  effected  by  the  navigators  of  the  east 
ern  and  middle  states,  who  in  this  way  obtain  a  share  of 

20 


154 

the  return  cargo ;  but  the  cultivators  throughout  these 
vast  and  populous  regions,  and  through  the  whole  west 
ern  country,  have  nothing  to  offer  in  exchange  for  fo 
reign  manufactures,  excepting  the  provisions  of  the 
ordinary  kinds,  which  the  caprice  of  foreign  powers 
from  time  to  time  allows  them  to  export.  Their  con 
sumption  of  foreign  articles  must  therefore,  as  I  have 
said,  be  extremely  small ;  and  if  they  have  no  domestic 
manufactures  in  their  neighbourhood,  they  are  com 
pelled  to  live  without  a  knowledge  of  the  arts,  or  an 
enjoyment  of  the  comforts  of  life.  But  it  is  the  extent 
of  this  knowledge  and  enjoyment  that  forms  the  distinc 
tion  between  a  civilized  and  uncivilized  state  of  society. 
A  community  thus  destitute  of  indigenous  productions, 
and  excluded  from  an  intercourse  with  foreign  markets, 
has  a  constant  tendency  to  decline  into  rudeness  and 
barbarism.  This  tendency  has  in  our  case  been  coun 
teracted  in  a  great  measure,  by  strong  moral  causes ; 
but  the  only  effectual  and  permanent  remedy  is  to  re 
move  the  principle  of  evil,  by  establishing  domestic 
manufactures.  It  was,  therefore,  with  great  reason  that 
Mr.  Jefferson,  in  one  of  his  private  letters,  written  in 
1822,  declared  his  strong  sense  of  the  expediency  of 
bringing  the  producer  into  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
consumer.  When  in  any  county,  township,  or  province 
containing  four  or  five  hundred  families  of  cultivators, 
there  are  found  a  proportional  number  of  families  em 
ployed  in  manufactures,  commerce,  or  professional  busi~ 
ness,  there  is  then  a  sure  and  steady  market  for  the 
products  of  all,  and  all  are  supplied  with  the  articles  of 
comfort  and  luxury  which  are  essential  to  civilization. 


155 

and  to  the  enjoyment  of  life.  Prices  must  of  course  be 
fair,  whatever  they  may  be,  and  it  is  of  little  or  no 
importance,  whether  they  are  or  are  not  the  same  as  on 
the  other  side  of  the  globe.  If  a  cultivator  in  the  west 
ern  country  obtains  from  his  neighbours  in  exchange  for 
a  part  of  his  grain,  good  clothes  and  furniture,  and  a 
good  education  for  his  children,  of  what  consequence  is 
it  to  him,  whether  he  gives  for  these  comforts  and  bless 
ings  more  or  less  grain  than  they  cost  in  Europe  ?  He 
cannot  send  his  grain  to  England  to  buy  clothes  and  fur 
niture,  nor  his  children  to  be  educated.  His  wants  must 
be  supplied  by  his  neighbours,  who  will  consume  his 
provisions  in  exchange  for  what  they  give  him,  or  not 
at  all.  If  they  be  not  supplied,  he  loses  the  sense  of 
moral  dignity  that  results  from  a  civilized  mode  of  liv 
ing,  ceases  to  produce  any  more  grain  than  what  is  ne 
cessary  to  furnish  him  with  bread  and  whiskey,  sinks 
into  idleness,  and  dies  a  drunkard ;  while  his  children, 
growing  up  without  education,  of  course  follow  his  ex 
ample.  Every  article  of  use  and  comfort  which  he  can 
get  at  home  for  his  surplus  products,  is  therefore  so 
much  clear  profit  to  him,  although  it  cost  him  twice  as 
much  as  a  similar  one  is  worth  in  England,  France,  or 
China. 

Such  in  general  are  the  respective  results  of  the  ab 
sence  and  presence  of  domestic  manufactures  upon 
civilization  and  happiness ;  and  these  principles  apply 
with  full  force  to  the  case  of  the  United  States.  The 
loss  of  population  and  political  importance  which  regu 
larly  follows  from  the  want  of  this  branch  of  industry, 
is,  as  I  have  observed  above,  prevented  with  us  by  the 


156 

great  extent  of  our  territory,  which  admits  of  a  constant 
extension  of  agriculture  corresponding  with  the  increase 
of  population ;  but  this  remedy  brings  with  it  another 
disease  of  a  different  kind,  which  should  not  be  over 
looked  in  a  general  review  of  this  subject.  I  mean  a 
necessity  of  the  continual  emigration  of  the  young  and 
active  part  of  the  community,  from  the  settled  to  the 
unsettled  parts  of  the  country.  Emigration  breaks  up 
the  family  circles,  and  with  them  the  natural  sources  of 
happiness  and  virtue.  It  is  easy,  no  doubt,  to  put  a  good 
face  upon  a  thing  of  this  kind,  and  when  the  manly 
New  Englander  mounts  his  dearborn  to  seek  his  fortune 
in  a  distant  wilderness,  he  recollects  that  he  is  a  son  of 
the  pilgrims,  and  that  it  is  not  for  him  to  pretend  to  be 
homesick,  or  to  give  way  to  despondency.  He  wears 
his  usual  honest  smile  as  he  proceeds  upon  his  journey, 
and  has  his  characteristic  joke,  wherewith  to  entertain 
his  fellow  traveller  or  chance  companion ;  but  there  is 
much  faintness  of  heart  at  bottom.  If  in  the  ardour  and 
inexperience  of  youth  he  had  exalted  his  imagination 
with  brilliant  visions  of  some  fancied  distant  good,  and 
sets  off  in  the  expectation  of  finding  an  earthly  paradise 
ready  planted  to  his  hands  on  the  banks  of  the  Wabash 
or  the  Missouri,  he  may  feel,  perhaps,  but  little  regret 
at  the  moment  of  parting.  But  he  soon  finds  how  much 
he  has  deceived  himself.  Could  he  even  obtain  an  im 
mediate  and  easy  possession  of  all  the  abundance  he  ex 
pected,  his  golden  dreams  would  still  not  be  realized, 
because  no  advantages  of  fortune  would  ever  make  up  to 
him  for  the  loss  of  home.  But  this  is  far  from  being  the 
case.  His  paradise  proves  to  be  a  wilderness  inhabited  by 


157 

angels  carrying  tomahawks  and  scalping  knives,  his  cas 
tle  in  the  air  a  log  hut,  and  his  lot  for  life  unremitted 
labour,  ill-health,  and  severe  privation.  It  is  impossible 
to  imagine  (under  a  good  government)  a  more  difficult 
existence  than  the  one  he  leads.     In  the  midst  of  all 
this  he  finds  that  he  has  left  his  heart  behind  him.    His 
friends  at  home,  on  the  other  hand,  are  not  slow  in  dis 
covering  that  he  has  taken  theirs  with  him.     If  only 
one  were  missed  out  of  a  large  family,  the  loss  might  be 
borne ;  but  when  Joseph  is  not,  and  Simeon  is  not,  and 
they  take  away  Benjamin  also,  the  case  grows  serious ; 
and  however  the  aged  parents  too,  on  their  side,  may 
assume  an  aspect  of  indifference  and  go  tranquilly  about 
the  business  of  life,  they  feel  internally,  as  the  Patriarch 
said,  that  all  these  things  are  against  them.     The  sacri 
fice  is  nothing  less  on  both  sides,  than  that  of  the  whole 
charm   and  beauty   of  existence.     Nothing  can  ever 
make  up  to  either  party  for  the  loss  of  those  relations, 
which  were  endeared  to  them  by  the  recollections  of 
childhood  and  youth,  and  were  intended  by  nature  as 
the  proper  corrective  of  the  many  bitter  drops  that  are 
mingled  in  our  mortal  cup,  even  when  best  tempered. 
Nothing  can  replace  to  the  young  the  associations  that 
surround  the  venerable  beings  to  whom  they  are  in 
debted  for  life,  and  who  watched  over  them  in  their 
helpless  infancy.     Still  less  can  any  earthly  substitute 
compensate  the  old  for  the  absence  of  the  grateful  care 
and  attention  of  their  children.     Those  of  us  who  have 
been  abroad  for  comparatively  short  periods,  and  with 
the  cheering  prospect  of  return  constantly  before  us, 
could  give  some  account  of  the  misery  of  these  separa- 


158 

tions»  What  then  must  it  be  when  they  are  perpetual? 
Nor  let  it  be  thought  that  these  considerations  are  of  too 
refined  an  order,  to  be  applicable  to  the  concerns  of 
common  life  and  to  the  feelings  of  the  mass  of  the  peo 
ple.  Men  in  this  respect  are  all  alike.  Natural  affec 
tion  is  as  pure  and  as  strong  (to  say  the  least),  in  the  poor 
man's  dwelling  as  in  that  of  the  rich.  It  is  the  only 
compensation  which  the  former  has  for  the  supposed 
advantages  of  the  latter,  but  it  is  one  which  if  enjoyed 
is  sufficient.  It  is  the  principle  of  goodness,  and  with 
out  goodness  (as  Lord  Bacon  says)  man  is  a  busy,  mis 
chievous,  wretched  thing,  no  better  than  the  vermin. 
It  is  the  internal  fountain  of  all  true  happiness,  and 
when  this  fails  or  throws  up  bitter  waters,  there  is  no 
remedy  left  but  religion — that  is,  death. 

These  unpleasant  results  are  remedied  in  a  great 
measure,  by  the  establishment  of  domestic  manufac 
tures.  They  are  the  natural  absorbents  of  the  increase 
of  population  which  naturally  takes  place  under  a  good 
government.  They  check  at  once,  all  emigration  to 
distant  parts.  The  family  circles  remain  unbroken, 
and  the  happiness  and  virtue  of  the  people  unimpaired. 
Every  succeeding  generation  obtains,  with  an  equal 
amount  of  labour,  a  more  abundant  supply  of  the  means 
of  subsistence  than  the  preceding  one,  and  life  is  of 
course  growing  constantly  easier  and  easier  to  all  from 
year  to  year.  The  arts  are  steadily  improving ;  and 
this  by  an  internal  process,  that  brings  with  it  no  dan 
ger  of  the  introduction  of  foreign  tastes  and  opinions. 
The  society  enjoys  the  natural  benefit  of  a  good  go 
vernment,  and  finds  itself  in  a  state  of  progress  and 


159 

expansion,  corresponding  with  the  condition  of  growth 
in  the  human  body,  and  attended  like  that  with  an  ac 
tive  movement  and  a  sort  of  joyous  exultation,  that 
seems  in  both  cases  to  pervade  and  animate  the  system. 
A  community  thus  situated,  will  naturally  in  time  en 
large  its  geographical  limits ;  but  this  process  will  take 
place  slowly  and  gradually,  so  as  not  to  produce  any 
violent  interruption  in  the  individual  relations  between 
the  members,  and  of  course  without  the  unpleasant  con 
sequences  that  arise  from  emigration  to  distant  parts. 
Such  are  the  effects  of  an  extension  of  domestic  manu 
factures,  proportional  to  that  of  the  other  branches  of 
industry ;  and  it  is  therefore  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to 
be  able  to  add,  that  such  appears  to  be  the  condition  to 
which  the  United  States  are  now  rapidly  approaching. 
If  the  justice  of  the  above  remarks  appear,  as  I  think 
it  will,  sufficiently  obvious,  it  will  hardly  be  necessary 
to  refute  in  detail  the  vulgar  error,  that  manufactures 
are  of  immoral  tendency.  I  have  shown  on  the  con 
trary  that  their  influence,  moral  as  well  as  economical, 
is  in  the  highest  degree  favourable.  Labour  in  fact 
of  all  kinds,  is  known  to  be  the  parent  and  guardian  of 
good  morals,  and  this  must  be  supposed  true  of  manu 
facturing  as  well  as  other  kinds  of  labour,  at  least  until 
the  contrary  be  proved.  The  only  argument  that  is 
ever  alleged  in  support  of  a  different  opinion,  is  found 
ed  on  the  wretched  situation  and  depraved  character  of 
the  workmen  employed  in  some  of  the  manufacturing 
establishments  of  Europe  and  especially  England.  But 
is  there  no  part  of  the  world  in  which  the  labourers 
employed  in  agriculture  are  also  a  depraved  and  miser- 


160 

able  race?  Look  at  Russia,  Poland,  and  Turkey,  not 
to  mention  the  West  Indian  islands  and  our  own  southern 
states.  The  wretchedness  and  depravity  of  a  part  of 
the  manufacturing  population  of  Europe,  are  owing  to 
vicious  political  institutions  and  bad  management,  and 
under  similar  circumstances  a  population  employed  in 
agriculture  or  commerce  is  neither  happier  nor  better. 
It  appears  probable  indeed,  that  manufactures  have  un 
der  good  management  a  better  moral  effect  upon  the 
persons  engaged  in  them,  than  the  other  branches  of  in 
dustry,  for  the  precise  reason  that  is  sometimes  made  an 
objection  to  them  ;  I  mean  that  they  bring  men  together 
in  large  masses.  Such  collections  have  been  supposed 
to  generate  naturally  bad  habits  ;  but  in  this  respect  a 
distinction  must  be  taken  between  collections  of  inde 
pendent  individuals  and  of  families.  When  men  or 
women  are  taken  from  their  family  circles,  which  are 
the  natural  mode  of  their  existence  and  the  only  one 
consistent  with  virtue  and  happiness,  and  brought  to 
gether  in  large  masses  as  independent  individuals,  it 
has  been  found  that  no  severity  of  discipline  will  pre 
vent  abuses.  This  has  been,  and  still  is  seen  habitually, 
in  the  cases  of  armies,  crews  of  ships,  monasteries,  and 
colleges  for  education.  In  all  these  establishments,  it  is 
usual  to  employ  unwearied  diligence  and  all  imaginable 
means  for  the  maintenance  of  correct  habits,  but  it  is 
very  rarely,  if  ever,  that  the  object  is  completely  at 
tained.  But  where  the  family  circles  are  kept  entire, 
large  collections  of  men  are  under  the  influence  of  all 
the  motives  that  ordinarily  produce  good  conduct,  in 
creased  by  the  effect  of  the  extension  of  social  commu- 


161 

nications  that  take  place  in  such  circumstances.  Now 
this  is  the  state  of  things  in  most  manufacturing  esta 
blishments,  which  naturally  bring  together  the  persons 
employed  in  families,  because  in  most  of  them  the  la 
bour  of  men,  women,  and  children,  is  needed  in  various 
proportions.  No  other  condition  of  life  is  equally  fa 
vourable  to  the  maintenance  of  a  family  among  the  la 
bouring  classes,  and  of  course  to  their  happiness  and 
virtue.  And  even  in  those  manufactures  where  men 
only  are  employed,  their  fixed  position  and  regular 
profits  hold  out  at  least  as  powerful  inducements  to  the 
formation  of  family  connexions,  as  any  that  are  offered 
by  agriculture  and  commerce. 

We  find  accordingly  that  the  morality  of  our  well 
conducted  manufacturing  establishments,  instead  of  be 
ing  objectionable,  is  probably  superior  to  that  of  any 
other  portion  of  the  community.  I  have  been  told  by 
a  person  intimately  acquainted  with  the  state  of  the 
cotton  manufactory  at  Waltham,  from  its  commence 
ment,  that  among  the  several  hundred  persons  of  both 
sexes,  mostly  young,  who  had  been  employed  there  for 
ten  or  fifteen  years,  a  single  instance  only  of  irregular 
intercourse  had  been  discovered.  Intemperance  and 
the  vices  punishable  by  law  were  unheard  of.  Compare 
this  statement  with  what  is  known  of  the  morals,  I  will 
not  say  of  our  colleges  and  cities,  but  of  our  sequestered 
country  towns.  The  last  are  doubtless  much  superior  in 
this  respect  to  the  cities  and  towns  of  most  other  parts 
of  the  world,  but  the  purest  of  them  contain  a  larger 
portion  of  alloy,  I  fear,  than  Waltham.  I  am  aware  that 
it  would  be  rash  to  expect  that  all  or  the  average  of  our 

21 


162 

manufacturing  establishments  will  be  as  well  managed 
as  this ;  nor  is  it  necessary  that  they  should  be  in  order 
to  establish  the  point  in  question.  It  may  be  remarked 
however,  that  no  establishments  can  flourish  long  or  be 
come  permanent,  but  such  as  are  well  managed,  and 
these  will  of  course  determine  the  average  state  of  mo 
rals  among  the  persons,  employed  in  this  branch  of 
industry. 

There  is  perhaps  rather  more  plausibility  in  the  ob 
jection  sometimes  made  to  the  introduction  of  domestic 
manufactures,  that  the  labour  they  require  is  of  a  less 
healthy  and  agreeable  description  than  that  of  agricul 
ture.  It  is  said  to  be  a  hard  thing  to  take  young  men 
and  women  from  the  pure  air,  varied  occupations,  and 
simple  pleasures  of  a  country  life,  and  immure  them 
for  ever  within  four  stone  walls,  where  they  are  stunned 
by  a  deafening  din  of  machinery,  and  condemned  to 
perform  some  single  operation  from  one  year's  end  to 
the  other.  But  if  we  adopt  the  principle  of  interdict 
ing  all  employments  excepting  the  one  which  is  the  most 
eligible  on  all  accounts  to  the  individuals  engaged  in  it, 
it  is  evident  that  there  can  be  no  exchange  of  products, 
and  that  the  whole  machinery  of  social  life,  which  is 
moved  by  this  single  spring,  must  come  to  a  stand.  The 
less  inviting  occupations  are  for  the  same  reason  more 
lucrative,  and  thus  afford  to  those  who  practise  them  a 
solid  compensation  for  their  comparative  inconveniences. 
Every  employment,  however,  has  its  bright  and  dark 
side.  A  sneering  satirist  would  find  no  difficulty  in 
drawing  a  sufficiently  repulsive  picture  of  the  three  no 
ble  professions  of  divinity,  law,  and  medicine,  all  of 


163 

which  exercise  so  worthily  the  highest  faculties  and  best 
affections  of  our  nature,  and  which  form  in  our  country 
(as  they  might  do  every  where)  the  Corinthian  capital  of 
society.  As  respects  the  point  in  question,  no  one  cer 
tainly  can  be  a  greater  enthusiast  than  I  am,  in  regard  to 
the  beauties  and  delights  of  the  country ;  but  in  rea 
soning  on  the  subject,  it  is  necessary  to  avoid  illusions, 
and  we  shall  be  mistaken  if  we  suppose  that  the  common 
cultivator  connects  with  rural  sights  and  sounds,  all  the 
fine  associations  that  are  attached  to  them  in  the  mind 
of  the  poet.  If  the  present  Laureat  of  England,  who 
has  described  so  feelingly,  in  his  Espriella's  Letters,  the 
wretchedness  of  an  ill-managed  manufacturing  popula 
tion,  had  realized  the  golden  dream  of  Pantisocracy  in 
which  he  formerly  indulged,  when  it  was  the  height  of 
his  ambition  to  drive  his  own  team  up  and  down  one  of 
our  villages ;  or  as  he  expressed  it  himself, 

The  tinkling  team  to  guide 

O'er  peaceful  freedom's  undivided  glade, 

he  would  probably  have  found  that  driving  a  team  of 
oxen,  or  even  keeping  a  flock  of  sheep,  when  it  be 
comes  the  regular  occupation  of  life,  is  not  a  whit  more 
poetical  than  superintending  the  movement  of  a  water- 
wheel  or  a  steam  engine.  If,  upon  a  fair  comparison, 
we  allow  that  agricultural  labour  is  perhaps  more  agree 
able  and  probably  more  healthy  than  any  other,  we  shall 
also,  I  think,  be  satisfied  that  a  manufacturing  popula 
tion  is  the  one  best  situated  for  social  enjoyment,  and  the 
one  (of  mechanical  labourers)  that  will  take  the  highest 


164 

rank  in  the  intellectual  scale.  The  workmen  are  brought 
nearer  together,  and  are  able  without  inconvenience  to 
see  each  other  oftener,  whether  for  purposes  of  improve 
ment  or  pleasure.  If  their  labour  be  somewhat  mono 
tonous,  their  seasons  of  repose  are  proportionally  regular, 
and  might  be  diversified  with  recreations  and  useful  ex 
ercises  of  the  most  various  kinds.  We  have  seen  of  late 
the  practice  of  attending  scientific  lectures  at  the  hours 
of  leisure,  introduced  among  the  operative  mechanics  in 
England,  with  great  success  and  benefit.  These  as  oc 
cupations  for  the  evening,  might  be  interchanged  with 
assemblies  for  dancing,  theatrical  representations,  and 
other  innocent  forms  of  social  recreation ;  so  that  on  the 
whole  a  daily  round  of  objects,  including  those  subser 
vient  to  labour  and  enjoyment,  might  be  brought  before 
the  mind  of  the  manufacturing  labourer,  as  various  at 
least  as  those  which  regularly  present  themselves  to  the 
cultivator,  and  perhaps  in  the  main  not  less  agreeable. 
We  may  therefore  conclude  with  safety,  that  there  is 
little  or  no  force  in  the  objection  made  to  the  use  of  do 
mestic  manufactures,  on  account  of  their  unfavourable 
effect,  whether  on  the  morals  or  the  happiness  of  the 
individuals  engaged  in  them.  I  have  shown  before  that 
their  influence  on  the  community  at  large  is  in  both  re 
spects  extremely  beneficial. 

I  have  been  led  to  treat  this  point  rather  more  in  de 
tail  than  I  should  otherwise  have  done,  because  I  was 
anxious  to  exhibit,  in  what  appears  to  me  its  true  light, 
the  nature  of  the  change  that  is  now  rapidly  taking  place 
in  the  industry  of  the  country.  It  is  desirable  and  im 
portant  that  the  public  should  form  a  correct  opinion  of 


165 

the  effects  of  the  progress  of  manufactures  amongst  us ; 
and  instead  of  looking  upon  it,  as  some  have  done,  with 
apprehension,  should  regard  and  receive  it  as  a  blessing 
of  Providence.  The  question  still  remains  whether  it 
be  the  duty  of  the  government  to  encourage  this  pro 
gress  by  direct  legislation ;  and  if  so,  what  new  laws 
would  be  most  expedient  for  the  purpose.  But  these  are 
matters  that  can  only  be  discussed  with  profit  in  great 
detail,  and  which  I  must  omit,  as  well  for  want  of  space 
as  of  the  necessary  materials.  Most  of  the  general  prin 
ciples  that  are  applicable  to  them  have  been  hinted  at 
above.  If  the  absence  of  domestic  manufactures  be 
owing  in  a  great  measure,  as  I  have  supposed,  to  politi 
cal  causes  and  the  habits  generated  by  them,  it  comes 
within  the  regular  province  of  government  to  apply  a 
remedy.  The  care  of  determining  the  nature  of  this 
remedy  and  of  conciliating  the  encouragement  of  one 
branch  of  industry,  with  a  just  regard  for  the  rights  of 
individuals,  whose  property  is  invested  in  others,  and 
for  the  general  welfare  of  the  union,  belongs  and  may 
be  trusted  with  safety  to  the  wisdom  and  experience  of 
congress. 

Such  are  the  few  observations  which  the  limits  of  the 
present  essay  will  permit  me  to  offer  upon  the  topic  of  our 
domestic  policy.  But  before  I  finish  this  chapter  I  shall 
be  excused,  I  hope,  for  adding  a  single  remark,  upon  the 
organization  of  the  executive  department  of  the  govern 
ment.  Although  the  internal  affairs  of  the  country  are 
incalculably  more  various,  more  weighty,  more  essenti 
ally  interesting  than  the  foreign  relations ;  although  the 
legislative  and  judicial  departments  of  the  government 


166 

are  almost  wholly  occupied  with  business  of  domestic 
origin,  all  of  which  requires  in  a  greater  or  less  degree 
the  co-operation  of  the  executive ;  although  the  people 
have  uniformly  manifested  a  wish  to  occupy  themselves 
with  their  own  concerns  rather  than  those  of  other  na 
tions;  notwithstanding  all  this,  it  so  happens  that  there 
is  no  department  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  govern 
ment  exclusively  devoted  to  this  great  and  paramount 
object.  Our  foreign  relations,  though  by  general  acknow 
ledgment  of  much  inferior  concern,  employ  two  whole 
departments,  the  war  and  navy,  and  almost  wholly  the 
two  others ;  for  the  only  active  business  of  the  treasury 
is  to  levy  the  duties  on  our  foreign  commerce,  and  the 
principal  occupation  of  the  secretary  of  state  to  super 
intend  the  negociations  with  foreign  powers.  The  rem 
nant  of  time  that  is  left  to  the  departments  of  state  and 
war,  from  the  pressure  of  their  more  immediate  busi 
ness,  is  all  that  can  now  be  devoted,  by  the  executive 
branch  of  the  government,  to  our  domestic  concerns. 
One  would  think  that  pride,  if  not  policy,  would  induce 
a  nation  so  jealous  as  the  United  States  have  always  been 
of  their  dignity,  rights,  and  interests,  to  reserve  at  least 
one  executive  department  for  home. 


167 


CHAPTER  V. 

Spanish  America. — Political  Condition  of  the  New 
States. 

I  HAVE  dwelt  at  some  length,  in  the  first  chapter  of 
the  present  work,  on  the  important  effects  of  the  eman 
cipation  of  Spanish  America  upon  the  present  state  and 
future  prospect  of  the  whole  civilized  world.  I  have 
said  that  this  event,  putting  as  it  does  the  last  finish  to 
the  new  form  of  political  existence  of  our  western  conti 
nent,  which  was  commenced  by  the  liberation  of  the 
United  States  from  the  yoke  of  Great  Britain,  completes 
in  one  of  its  principal  parts  the  development  of  a  new 
universal  system,  and  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
leading  circumstances,  in  the  most  interesting  crisis  in 
the  fortunes  of  Christendom,  that  has  occurred  since  the 
first  establishment  of  the  European  commonwealth  upon 
the  ruins  of  the  Roman  empire.  I  shall  have  occasion 
hereafter,  to  recur  to  these  considerations,  and  to  state 
them  a  little  more  at  length.  The  present  chapter  will 
be  devoted  to  a  few  remarks  upon  the  causes,  immediate 
and  remote,  of  the  struggle  for  independence  in  Spa 
nish  America,  the  historical  events  that  have  marked  its 
progress,  and  the  present  condition  of  the  new  govern 
ments  that  have  been  established  in  the  different  parts 
of  that  immense  region. 


168 

It  would  be  taking  a  very  narrow  view  of  the  nature 
of  this  struggle,  or  of  that  which  preceded  it  in  our 
country,  to  look  merely  at  the  particular  events,  which 
determined  the  period  when  these  great  revolutions  oc 
curred,  and  the  circumstances  that  attended  them.  The 
general  causes  that  fix  the  substantial  character  of  the 
movements,  that  change  from  time  to  time  the  appear 
ance  of  the  world,  though  less  obvious  for  the  moment, 
are  of  far  more  real  consequence.  We  are  not  to  sup 
pose  that  the  patriotic  zeal  of  our  noble  ancestors  was 
so  strongly  excited,  by  the  mere  necessity  of  paying  a 
half-penny  too  much  for  a  pound  of  tea ;  or  that  Hamp- 
den  was  stung  to  madness  by  the  thought  of  losing  a  few 
shillings  under  the  name  of  ship-money.  These  were 
the  forms  under  which  a  vicious  political  organization 
made  itself  felt  in  the  mother  country  and  in  the  colo 
nies,  at  the  time  when  the  people  in  each  were  able  and 
willing  to  assert  their  rights;  any  other  exercises  of  the 
same  authority  occurring  at  about  the  same  time  would 
have  produced  the  same  effect.  As  respects  the  revo 
lution  in  Spanish  America,  the  particular  events  that 
determined  the  time  and  mode  of  its  recurrence,  were 
the  troubles  of  the  mother  country,  and  the  usurpation 
of  the  Spanish  throne  by  a  foreigner.  When  the  whole 
empire  threw  off,  by  a  simultaneous  movement,  the  yoke 
of  France,  every  separate  kingdom  and  province  assum 
ed  for  the  moment,  and  under  the  emergency  of  the  case, 
the  right  of  self  government,  and  the  American  colonies 
were  not  less  justified  in  so  doing  than  the  different  parts 
of  the  peninsula.  Peru  and  Mexico  being  placed  in  the 
same  circumstances,  possessed  of  course  the  same  po- 


169 

litical  rights  with  Castile  and  Grenada.  There  was, 
therefore,  this  peculiar  circumstance  attending  the  com 
mencement  of  the  Spanish  American  revolution,  which 
favourably  distinguishes  it  from  almost  all  others,  that  it 
was  not  even  in  form  illegal.  In  this  respect  it  stands  on 
even  fairer  ground  than  ours ;  for  although  our  fathers  al 
ways  affirmed  that  they  only  claimed  the  rights  of  English 
men,  and  were  probably  sincere  and  perhaps  correct  in 
this,  there  was  nevertheless  much  to  be  said  on  the  other 
side ;  and  the  government  constantly  professed  to  exer 
cise  nothing  but  a  legal  authority.  In  the  other  case 
there  could  be  no  dispute  or  difference  of  opinion ;  and 
the  South  American  revolution,  up  to  the  time  of  the 
re- establishment  of  the  king  of  Spain  in  1813,  was  in 
no  way  tainted  with  the  least  suspicion  of  illegality.  In 
the  meantime  the  Americans  had  been  naturally  led,  in 
the  exercise  of  the  functions  of  self  government,  to  form 
new  relations  with  each  other  and  with  foreign  powers, 
and  to  accommodate  themselves  in  various  respects  to  a 
new  position,  in  which  they  had  been  placed  by  events 
beyond  their  own  control.  Whether,  under  these  cir 
cumstances,  they  were  bound  even  in  form  to  return  to 
their  allegiance,  upon  the  king's  return  to  his  dominions, 
is  a  question,  which  few  perhaps  would  venture  to  de 
cide  at  once  in  the  affirmative.  The  rights  of  one  man 
over  another  depend  upon  the  relations  between  them, 
and  if  one  of  two  parties  wrongfully  change  an  existing 
relation,  he  cannot  of  course  take  advantage  of  his  own 
wrong  to  acquire  new  rights.  But  if  an  existing  relation 
be  altered,  without  the  fault  of  either  party?  their  re 
spective  rights  and  duties  are  then  determined  by  the 

22 


170 

new  relation  and  not  by  the  old  one ;  and  this  was  the 
state  of  the  case  between  the  king  of  Spain  and  his 
American  colonies.  It  may  fairly  be  doubted  therefore, 
whether,  from  the  time  when  the  first  movements  which 
took  place  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  ago  up  to  the  pre 
sent  day,  these  colonies  can  be  charged,  in  strictness, 
with  illegal  resistance  or  formal  rebellion  against  the 
just  authority  of  the  parent  country. 

But  however  this  may  be,  the  substantial  justification 
of  their  continuance  in  a  state  of  independence,  after 
the  re- establishment  of  peace  in  Spain,  was  no  doubt  the 
same  with  that  of  our  revolution;  I  mean,  the  inherent 
vice  of  the  relation  in  which  they  were  supposed  to  stand 
to  the  crown.  In  both  cases,  the  mother  countries 
claimed  and  exercised  the  right  of  imposing,  in  their 
own  interest,  various  restrictions  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
the  colonies,  which  were  not  imposed  upon  their  Euro 
pean  subjects,  a  circumstance  which  rendered  the  con 
nexion  between  them  even  more  objectionable  than  it 
otherwise  would  have  been.  But  independently  of  this, 
it  was  in  itself  a  thing  unnatural  and  inexpedient,  that 
communities  situated  at  such  immense  distances  from 
each  other,  should  pretend  to  act  together  for  the  pur 
poses  of  government  as  one  body  politic.  A  connexion 
of  this  kind,  formed  and  growing  up  by  accident,  could 
not  fairly  be  considered  as  binding  on  either  party ;  and 
had  an  amicable  proposition  to  dissolve  it  been  made  by 
either,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  upon  what  just  ground  the 
other  could  have  refused.  We  have  seen  in  fact  an  ar 
rangement  of  this  kind  actually  taking  place,  during  the 
last  year;  between  Portugal  and  Brazil,  At  all  events, 


171 

it  is  just  as  certain  that  a  separation,  compulsory  or 
peaceable,  will  in  all  such  c^ses  occur  sooner  or  later,  as 
that  a  fruit  that  has  come  to  maturity  will  either  fall  or 
be  plucked  from  its  parent  tree.  It  must  also  be  allowed, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  governments  which  had  claimed 
and  exercised  for  centuries  dominion  over  vast  pro 
vinces  or  rather  empires  in  embryo,  under  the  name  of 
colonies,  and  whose  pride  at  least  is  interested  in  pre 
serving  all  their  ancient  rights  and  dignities,  can  hard 
ly  be  expected  to  surrender  such  possessions  without  a 
struggle.     However  plain  might  be  the  law  of  nature, 
and  even  the  dictates  of  policy,  passion  and  prejudice 
would  inevitably  hold  a  more  persuasive  language,  and 
govern  for  a  time  at  least  in  the  councils  of  almost  any 
nation  on  the  globe ;  and  the  more  a  nation  thus  situated 
was  under  the  influence  of  routine  and  precedent,  the 
less  likely  would  it  be  to  make  a  virtue  of  necessity  and 
yield  with  a  good  grace.     Great  Britain,  for  example, 
might  be  expected  to  acquiesce  on  such  an  occasion 
much  more  readily  than  Spain,  as  in  fact  she  did.  When 
we  look  at  this  subject,  under  a  general  point  of  view; 
when  we  consider  the  vast  extent  of  the  American  con^ 
tinent,  and  the  prodigious  development  of  population, 
wealth,  and  power,  which  is  going  on  upon  it,  with  a 
sort  of  impulse  unknown  before  in  the  annals  of  our 
race ;  when  we  think  how  comparatively  short  a  period 
must  place  the  nations  that  inhabit  it  far  above  those  of 
the  old  world,  in  all  that  constitutes  material,  intellec 
tual,  or  moral  greatness ;  and  that  it  is  the  chosen  and 
destined  theatre  of  an  improved  civilization,  which  will 
east  a  new  and  glorious  light  upon  the  character  and 


172 

prospects  of  mankind;  when,  I  say,  after  dwelling  for  a 
while  on  these  high  contemplations,  we  recollect  the  fee 
ble  state  of  the  European  countries,  from  which  these 
colonies  emanated,  and  especially  the  notorious  decre 
pitude  and  wretched  imbecility  of  Spain,  it  seems  like 
absolute  madness  for  such  a  power,  to  pretend  to  master 
this  mighty  movement  and  direct  it  in  its  own  interest. 
The  account  of  such  pretensions  sounds  like  the  vulgar 
stories  of  witchcraft,  in  which  the  beautiful  and  gifted 
spirits  of  a  better  world  are  represented  as  obeying  the 
orders  of  an  earthly  mistress,  for  no  better  reason  than 
that  she  is  the  ugliest  and  the  weakest  creature  in  the 
parish.  Such,  in  fact,  is  the  nature  of  the  present  con 
test  between  Spain  and  her  ancient  colonies.  Unfortu 
nately,  however,  we  know  that  it  is  impossible  for  Spain 
or  any  other  government  similarly  situated,  to  view 
such  a  struggle  in  its  proper  light.  The  mother  country 
can  see  nothing  in  these  brilliant  youthful  states  but 
graceless  children.  Their  natural  effort  to  separate  and 
acquire  independence,  when  they  have  reached  matu 
rity,  is  a  sin  against  legitimacy.  The  king  is  bound  in 
honour  and  in  conscience  to  transmit  his  hereditary  do 
minions  undiminished  to  his  successor.  Power  is  gone, 
but  pride  remains;  and  the  government,  rather  than 
publicly  acknowledge  a  fact,  which  no  individual  of 
common  information  in  any  part  of  Christendom  would 
venture  to  question,  which  no  member  of  the  govern 
ment  would  himself  in  private  undertake  to  dispute, 
will  consent  to  any  sacrifices,  endure  the  most  ruinous 
privations,  and  in  one  word  consummate  the  ruin  of  a 
country.  How  happy  it  would  be  for  Spain,  if  her 


173 

European  allies,  who  know  very  well  how  to  interfere  in 
her  affairs  when  any  mischief  can  be  done,  who  can 
cover  the  peninsula  with  troops  whenever  any  point  of 
their  own  is  to  be  carried,  whose  armies  even  now  gar 
rison  the  capital  and  constitute  the  only  effectual  support 
of  the  present  rotten  and  wretched  system,  would  for 
once  exert  themselves  a  little  to  promote  what  they  feel 
and  own  to  be  the  real  good  of  this  ill-fated  nation ! 
Delicacy  it  seems  forbids.  A  strange  kind  of  delicacy 
this,  which  allows  them  to  invade  a  kingdom,  under  dif 
ferent  pretexts,  every  ten  or  fifteen  years,  and  carry  on 
the  government  as  it  were  in  the  king's  name,  but  does 
not  permit  them  to  adopt,  in  his  name,  a  measure  which, 
as  they  confess,  is  the  only  one  that  can  save  him  from 
ultimate  ruin.  Is  this  delusion  or  hypocrisy?  what 
ever  it  may  be,  it  is  fatal  enough  to  the  Spanish  nation^ 
and  well  illustrates  the  truth  of  their  own  proverb — 
Save  me  from  my  friends  and  I  will  save  myself  from 
my  enemies. 

The  history  of  the  struggle  for  independence  in  Spa 
nish  America  is,  upon  the  whole,  highly  honourable  to 
the  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  region.  It  has 
been  more  tedious,  more  bloody,  and  more  marked  by 
vicissitudes  of  fortune,  than  ours ;  but  this  difference 
was  naturally  to  be  expected  from  the  difference  in  the 
particulars  of  the  two  cases.  The  contest  was  carried 
on,  in  the  first  place,  upon  a  much  more  extensive  field, 
and  by  a  much  larger  population  than  that  of  the  Unit 
ed  States  at  the  time  of  the  revolutionary  war.  These 
circumstances  increased  the  probability  of  a  successful 
result,  but  rendered  it  more  difficult  to  establish  a  con- 


174 

terted  system  of  operations  among  the  several  states, 
which  has  in  fact  never  been  completely  effected  up  to 
the  present  day.  With  us  an  organized  concert  existed 
long  before  the  war  commenced,  and  was  ready  to  be 
brought  into  action  for  military  purposes,  from  the  first 
moment  when  the  exigency  of  the  case  required  it.  The 
Spanish  colonies  again  were  not  accustomed  to  the  busi 
ness  of  government  and  legislation,  which  is  in  part  a 
matter  of  routine  and  mechanism,  and  thus  far  can  only 
be  learned  by  experience.  This  experience  they  were 
yet  to  acquire,  at  the  very  moment  when  they  wanted  it 
most,  and  when  they  were  worst  situated  for  obtaining 
it.  We  on  the  contrary  have  had,  from  the  beginning, 
our  great  and  general  courts,  our  assemblies  and  coun 
cils,  our  caucusses  and  town  meetings,  our  orations  and 
our  newspapers.  Faneuil  Hall  had  rung  for  fifty  years 
in  succession,  with  the  indignant  eloquence  of  Dr.  Cooke 
the  father,  and  Dr.  Cooke  the  son,  before  its  echoes  re 
plied  to  the  nobler  voices  of  Otis,  Adams,  and  Quincy. 
Our  governors,  from  the  time  of  Andros,  who  was  forci 
bly  deposed  in  1688,  down  to  that  of  Hutchinson,  who 
was  compelled  to  flee  the  country,  had  led  the  life  of 
martyrs  and  confessors ;  and  our  ancestors  had  been  for 
more  than  a  century  in  constant  training  for  the  act  of 
revolution.  The  habits  of  the  Spanish  Americans  were 
also  much  less  military  than  ours.  After  the  first  con 
quest  of  the  country,  they  had  had  no  troubles  with  the 
natives,  and  had  never  taken  part  in  the  wars  of  Europe, 
or  been  engaged  in  quarrels  with  each  other.  With  us, 
on  the  contrary,  the  savages  were  never  subdued  until 
they  were  exterminated;  and  our  forefathers  were  com- 


175 

pelled  to  carry  on  with  them  a  perpetual  war  of  life  and 
death.  The  musket  and  the  broadsword  were  their 
constant  companions ;  battles,  wounds,  conflagrations, 
and  death,  were  familiar  things.  By  constant  exercise 
and  practice,  they  appear  to  have  acquired  a  relish  for 
military  life  and  the  manly  virtues  which  it  brings  into 
action.  Remote  as  they  were  from  Europe,  they  never 
failed  to  engage  with  ardour  in  the  wars  of  the  mother 
country,  and  wherever  they  were  engaged,  they  acquit 
ted  themselves  with  distinction.  The  men  who  had 
taken  Louisburg  and  fought  with  Montgomery  at  Que 
bec,  were  at  no  loss  when  called  on  to  defend  their  fire 
sides  and  their  families.  Another  great  distinction  in 
our  favour  and  against  the  Spanish  colonies  was  the  re 
spective  strength  in  each  of  the  royalist  party;  with  us, 
at  least  in  the  northern  section  of  the  country,  the  tories 
were  a  small  and  feeble  portion  of  the  people,  and  found 
it  necessary  to  emigrate  en  masse  at  the  opening  of  the 
war.  The  nobility  and  clergy  of  the  mother  country 
had  neither  part  not  lot  amongst  us,  and  the  government 
had  none  of  the  usual  strongholds  and  defences  in  which 
kings  are  accustomed  to  entrench  themselves,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  head  against  the  aggressions  of  the 
people.  In  the  Spanish  colonies,  there  was  a  regular 
and  powerful  aristocracy,  which  possessed  most  of  the 
land  and  with  it  the  effective  political  power,  and  which 
adhered  in  general  to  the  royal  cause.  The  clergy  de 
clared  almost  unanimously  for  the  king.  When  we 
consider  the  immense  influence  of  this  body,  in  every 
part  of  the  Spanish  empire ;  when  we  take  into  view 
the  wealth  and  power  of  the  nobility,  the  scantiness  of 


176 

the  tree  white  population,  and  the  inefficiency  of  all  the 
rest  of  the  inhabitants,  it  becomes  almost  wonderful  how 
the  independent  party  have  succeeded.  Finally,  the 
cause  of  liberty  did  not  obtain  in  South  America,  as  it 
did  with  us,  the  encouraging  assistance  of  a  generous 
foreign  ally.  The  first  monarch  in  Europe  lent  his 
countenance  to  us,  as  early  as  the  fourth  year  of  the 
war,  and,  before  the  sixth,  three  or  four  of  the  leading 
powers  were  fighting  on  our  side.  The  Spanish  colonies 
had  carried  on  their  weary  struggle  ten  or  twelve  years, 
before  the  United  States  even  began  to  exhibit  any  signs 
of  sympathy.  It  was  not  till  the  end  of  their  third  lus 
trum  of  agony  and  blood,  that  a  single  European  power 
would  acknowledge  the  fact  of  their  actual  existence, 
nor  has  any  foreign  nation,  European  or  American,  yet 
consented  to  depart  in  their  favour  from  the  line  of  strict 
and  relentless  neutrality. 

Under  all  these  circumstances,  it  is,  I  repeat,  rather 
to  be  admired,  that  the  Spanish  colonies  should  have 
been  able  to  achieve  their  independence  at  present,  than 
that  the  war  should  have  been  much  more  tedious, 
bloody,  and  doubtful  than  ours.  It  is  true  that  the 
enemy  with  whom  they  had  to  contend,  was  entirely 
different  in  resources  and  character  from  England ;  and 
this  was  one  of  the  principal  advantages  which  served 
as  an  offset  to  all  the  inconveniences  and  dangers  of  their 
position.  Could  the  Spanish  cabinet  have  employed  a 
financial  and  naval  power  equal  to  that  of  Great  Britain, 
to  sustain  the  strong  party  they  had  in  America,  the 
present  struggle  must  have  proved  ineffectual,  and  the 
emancipation  of  the  colonies  have  been  delayed  for  an 


177 

indefinite  period.  But  though  Spain  has  done  quite  as 
much  as  could  have  been  expected  from  a  kingdom  so 
feeble  and  helpless,  distracted  too  at  the  time  by  revo 
lution  and  foreign  war,  she  was  of  course  incapable  of 
acting  with  the  spirit  and  vigour,  which  alone  could  have 
ensured  success.  It  must  nevertheless  be  considered  as 
highly  honourable  to  the  independent  party,  that  with 
so  many  obstacles  to  conquer,  and  so  few  resources  at 
their  disposal,  with  every  thing  to  contend  with  at  home 
and  little  or  no  help  from  abroad,  they  have  accomplish 
ed,  in  about  sixteen  years,  a  revolution  which  gives  a 
new  form  of  existence  to  eight  or  ten  powerful  nations, 
changes  the  political  condition  of  half  a  continent,  and 
aifects  the  fortunes  and  prospects  of  the  world  at  large, 
more  powerfully  than  almost  any  event  that  ever  oc 
curred. 

But  although  I  am  ready  to  do  full  justice  to  the  me 
rit  and  the  talent  of  the  actors  in  this  great  movement, 
I  am  not  yet  prepared  to  go  quite  so  far,  as  some  very 
judicious  persons  have  somewhat  indiscreetly  done,  in 
exalting  their  pretensions.  I  have  heard  it  said,  for 
example,  and  that  too  by  our  own  countrymen,  not  only 
that  a  seat  in  the  congress  of  Panama  was  the  highest 
and  most  honourable  post  that  any  living  individual 
could  occupy,  but  that  this  assembly  would  be  the  first, 
that  had  ever  asserted  the  rights  of  man  against  tyrants 
and  oppressors.  Mr.  De  Pradt  indulges  in  the  same 
course  of  thinking,  and  in  his  late  pamphlet  on  this 
congress  makes  no  scruple  of  placing  Bolivar  far  above 
Washington.  I  confess  that  I  am  quite  at  a  loss  to  per 
ceive  any  rational  grounds  for  these  strange  exaggera- 

23 


17S 

Irons,  nor  do  I  believe  that  the  statesmen  and  generals 
of  Spanish  America,  or  their  countrymen  for  them,  would 
dream  of  putting  forward  any  such  pretensions.    View- 
ihg  it  as  certain  that  they  have  established  their  inde 
pendence,  they  have  done  no  more  in  this  than  the 
authors  of  our  revolution ;  and  if  they  had  in  some  re 
spects  greater  difficulties  to  contend  with,  their  struggle 
was  also  proportionally  longer  and  more  doubtful  than 
ours.     But  the  great  and  glorious  distinction,  that  be 
longs  to  our  fathers,  is  that  of  having  set  the  example  to 
our  brethren  in  the  other  part  of  the  continent.     Be 
tween  the  merit  of  conceiving  and  directing  a  difficult, 
apparently  a  desperate  enterprise,  and  that  of  imitating 
this  enterprise,  after  it  has  been  triumphantly  carried 
through  by  others,  under  similar  circumstances,  the 
distance  is  infinite.     I  say  not  this,  for  the  purpose  of 
depreciating  the  just  reputation  of  the  revolutionary 
worthies  of  the  south.     They  have  done  nobly  what 
they  had  to  do,  and  have  done,  I  believe,  all  that  mor 
tal  man  could  have  done  in  their  position.     It  is  not 
their  fault  that  our  fathers  were  earlier  on  the  stage ;  but 
are  these  on  the  other  hand  to  be  deprived  of  their  pro 
per  glory,  because  their  actions  have  been  copied  by 
others?  As  to  those  who  represent  the  congress  of  Pa 
nama  as  the  first  assembly,  that  ever  undertook  to  resist 
the  unlawful  pretensions  of  government,  I  would  ask 
them  whether  they  have  forgotten  a  meeting  that  was 
held  at  Philadelphia  more  than  half  a  century  ago,  for 
precisely  the  same  object;  whether  they  have  never  read 
a  celebrated  declaration  made  by  that  meeting,  which 
has  not  only  served  as  a  pattern  to  all  the  subsequent  de- 


179 

clarations  of  a  similar  kind,  but  which,  to  say  the  least, 
will  bear  a  comparison  both  as  to  matter  and  manner 
with  the  best  of  them ;  the  publication  of  which,  accord 
ing  to  the  best  European  authorities,  opened  a  new  era 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  Thus  much  may  be  well 
said,  upon  the  comparative  merits  of  the  revolutionary 
worthies  of  North  and  South  America,  as  respects  the 
great  work  of  achieving  independence,  in  which  the 
latter  as  well  as  the  former  may  be  supposed  to  have 
completely  succeeded.  But  it  should  not  be  forgotten, 
that  the  acquisition  of  independence  was  only  one  and 
perhaps  not  the  most  difficult  of  the  exploits  of  our  fa 
thers.  After  obtaining  this  prize,  they  had  to  prove 
that  they  were  worthy  of  it,  and  that  they  possessed  the 
wisdom  and  virtue  necessary  for  forming  and  adminis 
tering  a  government.  In  this  second  undertaking  they 
acquitted  themselves  in  such  a  way,  as  to  excite  the  ad 
miration  of  the  civilized  world,  and  the  lapse  of  half  a 
century  has  confirmed  from  year  to  year  their  claims 
upon  the  veneration  and  gratitude  of  their  countrymen. 
I  am  willing  to  believe,  that  the  Spanish  Americans  will 
also  meet,  in  this  particular,  with  equal  success,  and  to 
admit  that  what  they  have  already  done  in  this  way  is 
highly  honourable  to  them ;  but  all  their  political  estab 
lishments  are  still  as  it  were  in  embryo,  and  experience 
only  can  enable  us  to  decide  upon  their  value.  Should 
they  prove  in  fact  to  possess  the  same  consistency  and 
practical  excellence  with  ours ;  should  our  neighbours  in 
the  south  be  able  to  shew  us  fifty  years  hence,  a  confe 
deracy  or  a  cluster  of  confederacies  as  flourishing  as  ours 
is  now,  we  may  then  admit  and  with  pleasure,  that  they 


180 

have  successfully  imitated  our  example.  But  we  can 
never  admit  that  the  disciple  is  greater  than  the  master: 
or  that  we  are  to  undervalue  the  master  because  he  hap 
pens  to  have  a  worthy  disciple.  Whether  some  of  the 
Spanish  American  states  have  not  imitated  even  too 
closely  the  mere  external  form  of  our  institutions,  is  a 
point  which  I  shall  presently  have  occasion  to  discuss ; 
but  waving  this  for  the  present,  and  allowing  to  the  legis 
lators  of  these  states  all  the  credit  to  which  the  most  am 
ple  success  will  entitle  them,  I  cannot  but  think  that  the 
Rivadavias,  the  Guals,  and  the  Salazars,  may  well  be 
satisfied,  if  the  great  award  of  posterity  shall  ultimately 
place  them  on  a  level  with  Franklin,  Adams,  Jefferson, 
Hamilton,  and  Madison.  To  discover  how  a  thing  can 
be  done,  and  to  do  it  after  the  discovery  has  been  made, 
are  two  very  different  things.  We  know  the  anecdote 
of  Columbus  and  the  egg ;  and  without  descending  to 
so  trivial  an  illustration,  we  may  well  say,  that  if  it  re 
quired  the  genius  of  Columbus  to  explore  the  way  to  the 
new  world,  something  less  was  necessary  to  follow  him 
there.  Few  imitators  stand  in  a  better  relation  to  their 
models  than  Virgil  to  Homer ;  but  in  the  temple  of  fame, 
where  Pope  has  placed  them  both,  the  Mantuan  occu 
pies  a  lower  seat,  and  looks  up  with  reverential  awe  to 
liis  mighty  prototype : 

On  Homer  still  he  fixed  a  reverent  eye, 
Great  without  pride,  in  modest  majesty. 

It  would  be  easy  indeed  to  support  by  classical  autho 
rities,  a  theory  not  very  flattering  to  the  reputation  of 


181 

imitators,  but  to  this  extent  I  have  no  wish  to  go.  The 
Spanish  Americans  have  proved  sufficiently  that  they 
are  not  to  be  ranked  with  the  servum  pecus. 

The  same  remarks  may  be  made  upon  the  respective 
pretensions  of  Bolivar  and  Washington.  The  attempt 
to  compare  them  is  wholly  premature.  Bolivar  is  still 
in  the  midst  of  his  career ;  and  although  I  have  no  dis 
position  whatever  to  cherish  the  doubts  respecting  his 
future  conduct,  which  the  enemies  of  liberty  affect  to 
entertain ;  although  I  feel  the  fullest  confidence  that  he 
will  justify  the  hopes  of  the  world,  and  terminate  as  he 
has  commenced,  the  glorious  mission  which  has  been  al 
lotted  to  him,  it  is  nevertheless  too  early  to  award  the 
prize  before  the  race  is  run.  Long  as  he  has  laboured  in 
the  cause  of  his  countrymen,  and  much  as  he  has  done 
for  them,  he  has  one  thing  left  to  do,  more  difficult,  if 
we  may  judge  at  least  by  its  rarity,  than  all  the  rest; 
and  without  which  all  the  rest  will  go  for  nothing  and 
worse  than  nothing.  He  has  yet  to  show,  that  he  knows 
the  difference  between  true  and  false  greatness,  that  is, 
between  true  greatness  and  a  hoop  of  gold  or  a  wooden 
seat  covered  with  velvet.  After  subduing  hostile  ene 
mies,  he  has  yet  to  subdue  (if  he  is  unfortunate  enough 
to  feel  them)  the  impulses  of  irregular  ambition;  and 
this  is  the  achievement  which  Cicero,  in  his  splendid 
but  unhappily  wholly  unmerited  encomium  on  Csasar, 
declares  to  be  the  one  which  raises  a  man  as  it  were 
above  the  level  of  humanity.  The  enemies  of  liberty 
in  Europe,  who  judge  of  others  by  the  consciousness 
they  have  of  their  own  base  and  sordid  sentiments,  gene- 
Tally  laugh  at  the  idea  that  Bolivar  will  ever  resign  his 


182 

truncheon  and  descend  to  private  life.  For  my  part  I 
see  no  reason  whatever  to  suspect  him.  His  whole  con 
duct,  as  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  it,  has  been  patriotic 
and  disinterested,  and  affords  the  happiest  prognostics 
of  his  future  course  of  life.  When  he  shall  have  justi 
fied,  as  I  have  no  doubt  he  will,  these  high  expectations, 
we  shall  be  able  to  pronounce  a  favourable  opinion  on  his 
general  character,  and  to  class  him  with  the  few  great 
commanders  in  free  states,  who  have  been  at  the  same 
time  heroes  and  friends  of  their  country.  Even  then, 
however,  before  we  can  compare  him  with  Washington, 
he  must  have  rendered  the  most  important  services  to 
his  fellow  citizens  in  the  foundation  and  administration 
«f  their  civil  institutions,  must  have  rescued  them  from 
monarchy,  as  he  had  redeemed  them  before  from  fo 
reign  bondage,  must  have  held  out  to  them  the  graceful 
and  edifying  example  of  a  private  life  corresponding  in 
dignity  and  purity  with  the  glory  of  his  public  career, 
and  finally  must  have  brought  his  earthly  course  to  an 
honourable  end.  Death,  says  Burke,  canonizes  a  great 
character,  and  wre  may  add  death  only ;  because  nothing 
else  can  give  us  complete  assurance,  that  the  greatness 
we  admire  will  be  kept  up  without  failure  or  fault  to  the 
last.  To  accomplish  all  this  may  not  be  so  easy  as  Mr. 
De  Pradt,  whose  pen  sometimes  outruns  his  judgment, 
perhaps  imagines.  All  this,  however,  must  be  done, 
before  Bolivar  can  claim  the  honour  of  being  a  worthy 
and  successful  student  in  the  school  of  Washington. 
Greater  honour  than  this  he  need  not  wish,  and  can 
never  under  any  circumstances  aspire  to.  To  place  him 
at  present  above  his  illustrious  master,  is  merely  an  idle 


183 

exaggeration,  and  argues  a  very  inadequate  conception 
of  the  characters  of  both.  In  general  the  world  and 
even  his  own  countrymen  have  been  somewhat  too  prone 
to  raise  up  rivals  and  equals  to  our  incomparable  hero. 
Bonaparte  was  at  one  time  the  Washington  of  France  ; 
Iturbide  in  his  day  was  a  Washington.  Riego  and  Qui- 
roga  rose  in  a  few  months  from  the  rank  of  lieutenants  to 
be  the  Washingtons  of  Spain.  The  name  of  the  father 
of  his  country  is  too  honourable  a  title  to  be  lavished 
upon  every  bold  adventurer,  even  in  a  cause  apparently 
just.  The  world  had  been  created  nearly  six  thousand 
years,  before  the  appearance  of  the  first  or  rather  the 
unique  Washington,  and  it  would  be  singular  if  half  a 
dozen  more  should  spring  up  like  mushrooms  within 
twenty  years  of  his  death.  I  would  not  be  understood, 
however,  to  confound  the  name  of  Bolivar  with  those  of 
the  other  pretenders  to  distinction,  whom  I  have  just 
mentioned.  Should  the  close  of  his  career  correspond 
with  its  commencement,  he  will  no  doubt  stand  more 
nearly  on  a  parallel  with  Washington,  than  any  other 
character  recorded  in  history. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  recapitulate  here  in  detail,  or 
to  comment  at  length  upon  the  military  events  of  the 
Spanish  American  revolution.  These  are  in  their  na 
ture  sufficiently  public,  and  it  is  my  object  to  note  the 
moral  causes  and  effects  of  these  and  other  such  move 
ments,  rather  than  to  write  their  history.  This  will 
furnish  a  splendid  subject  for  the  Livies  and  Humes  of 
future  ages.  I  shall  confine  myself  at  present  to  a  few 
remarks  upon  the  political  institutions  of  the  nations  that 
have  been  formed  out  of  the  ancient  Spanish  colonies : 


184 

and  shall  consider  what  arrangements  would  have  beer* 
most  suitable  to  the  new  condition  in  which  they  found 
themselves,  and  how  far  they  have  succeeded  in  solving 
the  problem  which  that  situation  presented. 

The  leading  principle  upon  which  the  Spanish  colo 
nies  have  proceeded,  in  organizing  their  political  insti 
tutions,  appears  to  have  been  a  desire  to  copy  as  far  as 
possible  those  of  the  United  States.  They  have  all 
adopted  the  system  of  representative  democracy,  and 
the  forms  in  use  with  us  of  a  single  elective  chief  ma 
gistrate  and  two  elective  legislative  bodies.  They  have 
also  in  general  followed  our  model  in  regard  to  the  man 
ner  of  choosing  these  functionaries,  the  duties  that  are 
respectively  assigned  them,  and  even  their  names.  Three 
or  four  of  the  new  states  have  also  introduced  the  fede 
ral  principle,  which  seems  to  have  its  partisans  in  some 
of  the  others.  Where  this  feature  exists,  the  resem 
blance  is  complete.  In  the  others  the  absence  of  it  Oc 
casions  a  considerable  divergence ;  but  even  here  the 
imitation  is  very  direct.  Brazil  also,  with  the  variation 
of  its  hereditary  chief  magistrate  and  senate,  has  been 
evidently  copied  from  the  same  original,  and  not  without 
a  marked  attention  to  the  federal  feature,  which  forms 
one  of  its  principal  peculiarities.  Throughout  the  whole 
of  these  vast  regions,  it  is  only  in  Paraguay  that  we  find 
the  government  resting  on  a  wholly  different  basis.  In 
that  province,  as  far  as  we  are  acquainted  with  its  insti 
tutions,  which  is  very  slightly,  we  have  reason  to  sup 
pose  that  they  are  the  same  which  were  established  by 
the  Jesuits,  and  which  vaty  essentially,  not  only  from 
those  of  the  United  States,  but  of  every  other  Christian 


185 

country.  I  shall  say  a  few  words  respecting  them  before 
I  leave  this  subject. 

As  respects  the  others,  however,  the  plan  of  copying 
directly  and  minutely,  as  well  in  their  essential  princi 
ples  as  their  internal  forms  and  names,  the  institutions  of 
the  United  States,  is  too  flattering  to  our  national  pride, 
not  to  be  considered  at  first  view  as  plausible  and  judi 
cious.  It  must  be  owned  too,  that  the  example  of  an 
experiment  attended  with  such  brilliant  success,  was 
certainly  seducing ;  and  it  would  ill  become  me  to  inti 
mate,  that  any  other  or  better  mode  of  proceeding  could 
possibly  have  been  discovered.  We  ought  not,  how 
ever,  to  be  so  blinded  by  partiality  for  our  own  govern 
ment,  or  for  those  who  have  done  us  the  honour  to  copy 
it,  as  to  forget  that  the  legislators  of  Spanish  America, 
in  imitating  so  closely  the  works  of  our  patriots  and 
sages,  have  not  precisely  followed  their  example.  They 
too  had  successful  and  plausible  models  before  them,  and 
they  borrowed  from  several  of  them  such  parts  as  they  ap 
proved  ;  but  they  did  not  act  upon  the  principle  of  copy 
ing  immediately,  closely,  and  throughout,  the  form  of  any 
government  before  established.  It  may  be  said  indeed, 
and  with  great  truth,  that  there  was  at  that  time  no  ex 
isting  government  so  well  fitted  to  serve  as  a  pattern  in 
legislation  as  ours  is  now ;  but  it  should  also  be  remem 
bered,  that  the  material  virtue  of  a  good  constitution  is 
its  conformity  to  the  condition  of  the  people,  who  are 
to  be  governed  by  it.  Now  the  fact  that  a  certain  form 
of  government  has  been  attempted  with  extraordinary 
success,  in  one  nation,  instead  of  proving  that  it  would 
be  equally  successful  in  all  others,  furnishes  prima  facie 

24 


186 

evidence  that  it  would  not ;  because  we  know  that  hardly 
two  nations  can  be  mentioned,  whose  condition  is  not  in 
some  important  respects  materially  different.  However 
beneficial  a  particular  institution  had  been  found  in  other 
countries,  it  would  be  necessary  to  ascertain,  before  it 
could  be  copied  with  safety,  that  the  mode  of  operation 
would  be  precisely  similar ;  and  there  is  still,  in  this 
plan  of  legislation,  the  inherent  danger,  that  you  can 
never  be  quite  sure  that  your  observations  have  been 
complete  and  correct;  and  mistakes  on  these  great  sub 
jects  are  of  lasting  consequences  and  often  irremediable. 
These  considerations  are  so  important,  that  prudent  men 
have  generally  thought  it  safer  to  adopt  as  the  leading 
principle  in  legislation,  that  of  maintaining  the  existing 
state  of  things ;  and  where  alterations  are  suggested  by 
particular  circumstances,  of  not  extending  them  much 
farther,  either  in  conformity  to  abstract  notions  or  fo 
reign  examples,  than  the  occasion  itself  requires.  This 
appears  to  have  been  the  principle  that  was  acted  upon 
by  the  founders  of  our  institutions.  The  great  object  of 
the  revolution  was  independence,  and  the  acquisition  of 
this  was  considered  as  the  proper  remedy  for  the  evils 
attending  the  old  system.  The  separation  from  the 
mother  country  left,  however,  certain  blanks  in  the  lat 
ter,  and  the  principal  object  of  our  legislators  seems  to 
have  been  to  fill  these,  in  the  manner  corresponding 
most  nearly  with  the  spirit  that  prevailed  in  other  parts 
of  our  institutions,  and  for  the  rest  to  maintain  these 
institutions  as  they  stood.  They  introduced  a  new  me 
thod  of  designating  the  governors  and  councils  of  the 
several  states,  the  one  in  use  before  having  become  im- 


187 

practicable,  and  they  substituted  a  new  principle  of 
union  among  the  states,  for  the  old  one  of  a  common  alle 
giance  to  the  king.  In  most  other  parts,  they  left  every 
thing  in  the  main  as  it  was.  Some  years  later,  this  new 
principle  of  union  was  found  to  be  defective,  and  a  se 
cond  generation  of  patriots  and  sages,  as  I  have  said 
before,  introduced  another;  but  they  too  made  no  fur 
ther  innovations  in  important  matters,  and  with  this 
improvement,  the  venerable  fabric  of  our  institutions 
was  left  once  more  in  its  primitive  state.  Had  the 
legislators  of  Spanish  America  imitated,  in  this  respect, 
the  example  of  our  statesmen,  instead  of  copying  their 
works  so  minutely  as  they  have  done,  I  am  not  sure  that 
they  would  not  have  taken  a  wiser  and  a  safer  course. 
The  one  they  have  pursued  would  be  perfectly  justifia 
ble,  only  on  the  supposition,  that  there  existed  a  strong 
similarity  between  the  respective  situations  of  the  peo 
ple  in  the  two  divisions  of  America ;  and  it  is  therefore 
reasonable  to  conclude,  that  the  Spanish  American  law 
givers  proceeded  upon  such  an  opinion.  It  may  also  ap 
pear  presumptuous  to  differ  from  them  in  regard  to  this 
point;  but  I  confess  that  as  far  as  we  are  acquainted 
abroad  with  the  character  and  condition  of  our  southern 
neighbours,  I  am  not  able  to  discern  this  striking  resem 
blance;  and  I  think  I  see,  on  the  contrary,  differences 
in  some  very  important  matters,  which  would  hardly  be 
consistent  with  the  easy  and  successful  operation  of  the 
same  institutions  in  both. 

If  we  look,  for  example,  at  the  state  of  property, 
which  forms  in  all  countries  the  most  important  feature 
in  the  condition  of  the  people,  we  shall  find  that  it  was 


188 

entirely  different  in  North  and  South  America.  Our 
fathers,  when  they  took  into  their  hands  the  govern 
ment  of  their  country,  found  the  property  in  substance 
equally  divided.  They  found  the  whole  population 
virtually  independent  in  their  circumstances,  enjoying 
the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life,  and  possessed  of  the 
intelligence  and  virtue,  which  naturally  accompany  so 
advantageous  a  position.  They  also  found  them  in  re 
gular  and  habitual  exercise  of  extensive  political  rights. 
Upon  this  basis,  it  was  easy  to  erect  the  fabric  of  a  free 
representative  government ;  and  it  is,  as  I  have  stated  in 
a  preceding  chapter,  the  conformity  between  the  system 
thus  established  and  the  condition  and  character  of  the 
people,  which  resolve  themselves  ultimately  into  the 
state  of  property  that  constitutes  the  real  and  substan 
tial  security  which  we  have  of  the  durability  of  our  pre 
sent  institutions.  In  Spanish  America,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  property  appears  to  have  been  very  unequal 
ly  divided,  and  to  have  been  held  exclusively,  in  immense 
masses,  by  a  few  persons.  As  a  necessary  consequence, 
the  comforts  of  life,  intelligence,  and  industry,  (the 
principle  of  virtue,)  were  distributed  in  the  same  way, 
and  the  mass  of  population  had  never  enjoyed  or  ex 
ercised  any  political  rights  whatever.  Is  it  possible  that 
a  free  and  popular  government  erected  on  such  a  basis 
can  be  permanent?  Far  be  it  from  me  to  affirm  the  con 
trary.  I  only  say,  that  this  basis  is  essentially  different 
from  that  which  existed  in  the  United  States ;  and  that 
if  the  same  institutions  are  also  expedient  in  Spanish 
America,  it  must  be  for  reasons  other  than  those  which 
recommended  them  to  us.  It  is  true  that  laws  have  been 


189 

already  made  in  most,  or  perhaps  all  of  these  new  states, 
which  provide  for  the  equal  division  of  property  among 
all  the  children  of  the  same  parents,  and  thus  open  the 
way  for  the  gradual  subdivision  of  the  large  masses 
which  now  exist.  This  is  no  doubt  just  and  proper, 
supposing  a  popular  government  to  be  established ;  but 
it  is  still  nothing  else,  than  an  attempt  to  reconcile  and 
accommodate  the  state  of  the  people  to  a  form  of  govern 
ment,  introduced  in  conformity  to  abstract  notions  or 
foreign  examples.  Now  the  principle  adopted  by  our 
legislators,  and  which  is  generally  considered  a  much 
safer  course,  is  to  take  the  state  of  the  people,  as  you 
find  it,  and  to  regulate  your  form  of  government  accord 
ingly.  In  this  way  you  secure,  for  the  time  being,  an 
easy  and  quiet  administration  of  the  public  affairs;  and 
if  improvements  are  necessary,  they  are  subsequently 
introduced  without  much  danger,  under  the  name  of 
laws.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  form  of  government  is 
essentially  at  variance  with  the  state  of  the  people,  it  can 
never  go  into  quiet  operation,  still  less  become  perma 
nent;  and  the  adoption  of  it  is  a  mere  signal  and  occa 
sion  for  fresh  revolutions. 

It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  liberty  is  a  principle  in 
itself  so  valuable,  that  wherever  a  new  government  is  to 
be  established,  it  should  be  made  at  all  hazards  free  and 
popular ;  and  as  no  one  is  more  decidedly  attached  to 
popular  forms  than  I  am,  so  no  one  can  be  more  ready 
to  admit  and  to  insist,  that  they  should  be  introduced  as 
universally  and  as  rapidly  as  possible.  But  the  friends 
of  liberty,  if  they  expect  to  carry  their  point,  must  be 
prudent  and  judicious,  as  well  as  hearty  in  the  cause. 


190 

Of  what  advantage  is  it  to  set  up  a  shadowy  phantom  of 
popular  government,  merely  for  the  sake  of  seeing  it 
vanish  in  smoke  after  a  few  weeks,  months,  or  even 
years?  Does  this  in  good  earnest  encourage  and  promote 
the  great  object,  or  do  in  any  way  any  good  whatever? 
In  the  United  States,  we  hold  nearly  two  millions  of 
blacks  in  domestic  slavery,  while  our  senate  chambers 
are  daily  echoing  with  our  fervent  protestations  of  zeal 
and  aifection  for  freedom  under  every  colour  and  aspect ! 
And  reason  good,  for  it  is  one  thing  to  love  liberty,  and 
another  to  love  desolation,  slaughter,  and  universal  up 
roar,  which  would  be  the  consequence  of  a  simultaneous 
and  general  emancipation  of  the  blacks.  Any  measure, 
therefore,  and  most  of  all  a  measure  so  momentous  as  the 
establishment  of  a  new  constitution  of  government,  is  not 
necessarily  politic  and  expedient,  merely  because  it  is 
favourable  to  liberty,  that  is,  to  the  absence  of  restraint 
upon  individuals.  The  absence  of  restraint  in  itself  is 
a  good  thing,  but  the  absence  of  all  restraint  would  be, 
in  other  words,  the  absence  of  all  government,  and  would 
of  course  afford  no  basis  for  any  institutions.  Restraint, 
to  a  certain  extent  is  every  where  necessary,  and  the 
degree  to  which  it  might  be  admitted,  must  be  deter 
mined,  as  I  have  stated  above,  by  considering  not  merely 
abstract  notions  and  foreign  examples,  but  also  the  state 
and  condition  of  the  people.  The  institutions  which 
may  be  recommended  by  the  former,  can  only  be  estab 
lished  with  safety  as  far  as  they  are  also  consistent  with 
the  latter.  Any  attempt  to  introduce  others,  however 
beautiful  in  theory,  and  however  beneficial  elsewhere, 
is  dangerous.  To  say  that  it  will  certainly  be  ruinous 


191 

or  greatly  injurious  to  the  nation  that  makes  it,  would 
be  going  too  far ;  because  we  know  that  Providence  often 
modifies  the  working  of  general  causes,  so  as  to  bring 
good  out  of  evil.  Dangerous  and  imprudent  such  at 
tempts  certainly  are,  and  it  is  the  practice  of  men  and 
nations  who  pretend  to  wisdom,  before  they  invoke  the 
special  intervention  of  Providence,  to  exercise  in  the 
first  instance,  with  the  greatest  possible  effect,  the  power 
and  means  which  the  same  Providence,  operating 
through  the  general  laws  of  nature,  has  placed  at  their 
disposal. 

It  appears,  therefore,  rather  a  doubtful  point,  whe 
ther  the  establishment  in  Spanish  America  of  govern 
ments,  as  popular  as  that  of  the  United  States,  was  a 
measure  recommended  by  the  character  and  condition 
of  the  people,  and  of  course  whether  these  governments 
are  likely  to  be  equally  durable  and  successful  with  ours. 
The  same  remarks  apply  with  the  same  or  greater  force 
to  the  attempts  which  have  been  made  or  are  making, 
to  organize  some  of  these  states  on  the  federal  principle  in 
imitation  of  our  union.     In  this  respect,  as  in  the  other, 
the  legislators  of  the  south,  in  copying  the  works  of  our 
ancestors,  have  overlooked  the  spirit  in  which  they  were 
executed,  or  rather  have  exhibited  an  entirely  different 
one.     The  sages  and  patriots  who  framed  our  institu 
tions,  were  the  representatives  of  a  number  of  entirely 
independent  communities,  and,  acting  as  such,  they  as 
sumed  the  federal  principle  as  a  part  of  the  existing  state- 
of  things,  which  was  to  form  the  basis  of  the  social  fa 
bric,  and  serve  as  the  substratum  for  such  additions  as 
were  necessarv.     Thev  had   before  them  some  very 


192 

brilliant  examples  of  governments  arranged  in  a  inoi  c 
compact  manner,  and  the  general  notions  prevalent  at 
that  day  were  rather  against  the  expediency  of  attempt 
ing  the  federal  principle  on  a  very  large  scale.  Not 
withstanding  this,  our  ancestors  adhered  firmly  to  their 
wise  and  cautious  plan  of  building  on  the  existing  foun 
dations  5  and  adopted  the  federal  principle  in  a  form 
before  unknown  in  any  other  country.  Spanish  Ame 
rica  was  also  parcelled  out  into  a  number  of  wholly  in* 
dependent  provinces  under  the  names  of  kingdoms  and 
captain-generalcies.  But  these  never  seem  to  have  con 
templated  the  plan  of  a  confederacy.  A  union  substan 
tially  similar  to  ours,  was  therefore  never  even  thought 
of  in  the  south ;  but  some  of  these  provinces  have  un 
dertaken,  in  organizing  their  separate  governments,  to 
subdivide  their  territory  into  independent  states,  for  the 
purpose  of  afterwards  re- uniting  these  states  on  the 
federal  principle.  To  say  that  this  proceeding  was  inju 
dicious  and  unwise,  would  be  premature  at  least,  and 
perhaps  incorrect.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  it  does 
not  correspond  with  the  conduct  of  our  legislators,  whom 
our  southern  neighbours  apparently  intended  to  follow. 
It  corresponds,  on  the  contrary,  with  what  their  conduct 
would  have  been,  if  instead  of  assuming  the  existing 
divisions  into  states,  as  a  part  of  the  basis  on  which  they 
were  to  build,  they  had  attempted,  from  deference  to 
received  opinions  and  foreign  examples,  to  abolish  this 
division  and  establish  a  consolidated  government.  If 
the  several  clusters  of  United  States  which  have  been 
formed  in  Mexico,  on  the  river  La  Plata,  and  in  Upper 
Peru,  present  an  external  semblance  of  our  union,  the 


193 

principles  that  led  respectively  to  the  establishment  of 
them,  are  not  only  different  but  directly  opposite ;  and 
the  case  affords  a  singular  example  of  the  danger  of  di 
rect  imitation.  To  imitate  directly  the  brilliant  and 
successful  work  of  another  hand,  is  in  fact  in  most  cases 
the  surest  method  that  can  be  taken  of  becoming  an  ori 
ginal,  in  some  other  much  inferior  in  order. 

If  then,  it  may  be  asked,  the  institutions  of  the  United 
States  were  not  suitable  to  the  condition  and  character 
of  the  Spanish  Americans,  what  others  would  have  suit 
ed  them  better?  What  forms  of  government  would  have 
coincided  sufficiently  well  with  the  existing  state  of  pro 
perty  and  civilization,  to  be  durable  and  permanent? 
These  are  the  great  problems  which  it  was  and  may  be 
again  the  duty  of  the  legislators  of  the  south  to  solve, 
but  which  I  am  far  from  pretending  to  be  able  to  solve 
for  them.  No  foreigner  probably  possesses  the  infor 
mation  respecting  the  political  situation  of  these  immense 
regions,  almost  unknown  abroad,  which  would  justify 
even  a  suggestion  of  the  nature  of  the  institutions  that 
would  suit  them  best.  We  know  negatively,  that  cer 
tain  things  did  not  exist  there  before  the  revolution ; 
that,  as  I  have  stated,  there  was  not  the  equality  of  pro 
perty  and  the  division  into  independent  states,  that 
were  found  with  us.  We  also  know  that  to  adopt  the 
existing  state  of  things  as  the  basis  of  every  new  political 
organization,  is  the  safest  principle  that  can  be  acted 
upon,  and  is  in  particular  the  one  which  was  followed 
by  our  forefathers.  Even  this  rule,  however,  may  not 
be  without  exceptions,  and  we  may  perhaps  conceive  of 
a  state  of  things  so  entirely  rotten  and  vicious,  that  no- 

25 


194 

thing  can  be  made  of  it;  of  a  political  edifice  so  com 
pletely  dilapidated,  that  no  part  of  it  can  be  built  upon, 
and  that  the  whole  must  be  removed  and  the  ground 
swept  clean,  before  a  new  construction  can  be  under 
taken  with  advantage.  Such  may  have  been  the  case 
in  Spanish  America,  and  it  is  therefore  not  certain,  al 
though  the  presumption  is  perhaps  against  them,  that 
our  southern  neighbours  have  not  done  in  every  respect 
the  best  they  could.  My  object  in  the  preceding  re 
marks  has  not  been  so  much  to  censure  their  proceed 
ings,  as  to  show  that  although  they  have  copied  the 
external  forms  of  our  institutions,  they  have  not  bor 
rowed,  and  could  not  possibly,  in  this  way,  borrow  their 
spirit,  which  lies  in  their  conformity  to  the  condition  of 
our  country ;  and  of  course,  that  the  successful  opera 
tion  of  these  constitutions  with  us  affords  littll  or  no 
assurance  of  what  their  effect  will  be  elsewhere,  and 
under  other  circumstances. 

Without,  however,  pretending  even  to  suggest  an 
opinion  as  to  what  forms  of  government  would  be  most 
suitable  to  the  condition  of  Spanish  America,  much  less 
to  speak  with  decision  on  this  subject,  it  is  not  very  dif 
ficult  to  perceive  that  there  was  one  important  element 
of  political  power,  at  their  disposal,  which  did  not  exist 
at  least  to  the  same  extent  and  in  the  same  shape  with 
us,  which  they  have  certainly  not  entirely  neglected. 
but  of  which  they  might  perhaps  have  taken  greater 
advantage  than  they  have  done,  in  forming  their  insti 
tutions — I  mean  religion.  It  has  been  made  by  some 
an  objection  to  the  constitution  of  these  new  states,  that 
they  have  adopted  an  established  religion,  and  that  in 


195 

some  of  them  the  exercise  of  any  other  is  prohibited  un 
der  severe  penalties.  This  latter  clause  is  undoubtedly 
injudicious,  at  variance  with  policy  as  well  as  common 
humanity,  and  directly  detrimental  to  the  purpose  which 
it  is  meant  to  promote.  But  as  respects  the  former, 
instead  of  blaming  the  Spanish  Americans  for  having 
done  too  much,  J  should  rather  be  disposed  to  think 
that  they  had  done  too  little ;  and  that  the  religious  es 
tablishment,  which  they  did  not  create,  but  found 
already  existing  in  full  vigour,  deeply  seated  in  the 
faith,  affection,  and  habits  of  the  people,  might  have 
been  employed,  with  great  propriety  and  utility,  as  the 
mainspring  and  principal  basis  of  the  new  political  in 
stitutions.  It  does  not  belong  to  my  purpose  to  state  in 
detail  what  would  have  been  in  this  case  the  modes  of 
legislation  and  administration,  or  the  names  and  func 
tions  of  the  principal  magistrates.  These  are  matters 
comparatively  unimportant  in  all  governments.  But  on 
this  supposition,  the  great  rule  of  assuming  the  existing 
state  of  things  as  the  basis  of  the  new  fabric  would  have 
been  observed,  and  at  the  same  time  an  element  of 
power  been  brought  into  action,  not  inferior  perhaps  in 
beneficial  potency  to  any  other,  and  amply  competent 
to  keep  in  motion  the  machinery  of  any  constitution. 

Religion,  wherever  it  can  be  employed  in  this  way, 
seems  in  fact  to  be  the  proper  corner  stone  of  every 
political  fabric ;  the  theory  of  the  natural  separation  of 
of  church  and  state,  which  grew  up  at  the  time  of  the 
reformation,  and  has  since  gained  so  much  currency 
that  the  Catholics  themselves  have  found  it  necessary  to 
admit  it,  has  in  fact  no  foundation  whatever  in  truth, 


196 

and  is  one  of  those  popular  errors,  or  rather  abuses  of 
language,  which  become  universal  for  a  time  from  some 
accidental  misconception,  and,  when  this  is  removed, 
are  again  rejected  with  equal  unanimity.  Such  at  no 
distant  period  will  be  the  fate  of  this  theory ;  for  how 
can  it  be  said,  with  a  shadow  of  plausibility,  that  the 
state,  which  is  a  body  politic  or  political  person,  declar 
ing  and  enforcing  the  laws  for  the  general  good,  is 
entirely  different  from  the  church,  which  is  the  same 
body  politic  or  political  person,  declaring  and  enforcing 
the  same  laws  for  the  same  purpose,  under  different 
sanctions.  Morality,  or  natural  law,  which  is  the  basis 
of  all  legislation,  considered  in  its  origin,  is  the  system 
of  the  relatibns  established  by  the  will  of  God  among  the 
individual  members  of  the  human  race.  The  state  de 
clares  it  to  be  the  law  of  the  land,  and  enforces  it  by 
judicial  process.  The  church  declares  it  to  be  the  law 
of  God,  and  to  be  provided  as  such  with  appropriate 
rewards  and  punishments.  It  is  evident  that  both  these 
functions  are  exercises  of  the  sovereign  power;  and 
unless  we  suppose  a  complete  imperium  in  imperio,  or 
two  distinct  governments  in  one  community,  it  follows 
that  the  church  and  the  state  are  not  only  not  to  be  con 
sidered  as  naturally  independent  of  each  other,  but  that 
they  are  in  their  nature  and  should  be  in  fact  not  merely 
united  but  identical.  The  unity,  or  in  other  words  the 
existence  of  government,  requires  that  in  every  com 
munity  the  controlling  power  in  religion  should  be  held 
and  exercised  by  the  same  persons  who  also  hold  and 
exercise  the  controlling  power  in  politics.--  In  this  case 
the  church  and  the  state  concur  in  recommending  the 


197 

same  duties,  and  what  is  even  more  important,  if  possi 
ble,  the  laws  are  enjoined  upon  the  public  as  religiously 
obligatory,  which  they  really  are.  Where  this  is  not 
the  case,  there  is  not  only  a  continual  danger  or  rather 
moral  certainty  of  collision  between  the  two  distinct 
lawgiving  powers,  that  is,  in  one  shape  or  another,  of 
civil  war ;  but  the  laws  emanating  from  the  government 
lose  the  advantage  of  a  religious  sanction,  take  no  hold 
upon  the  minds  or  hearts  of  the  people,  and  are  looked 
upon  as  mere  rules  of  practical  expediency,  which  may 
be  violated  without  impropriety,  by  any  one  who  is  wil 
ling  to  suffer  the  penalty.  As  the  obligation  to  obey  the 
laws  of  the  state,  results  in  fact  from  their  supposed 
conformity  to  the  laws  of  nature,  that  is  the  will  of  God, 
and  as  the  knowledge  of  the  true  character  of  this  obli 
gation  produces  a  stronger  disposition  in  the  public 
mind  to  obey  the  laws,  than  any  other  consideration  that 
can  be  presented  to  it,  it  is  evidently  in  the  highest 
degree  politic  and  useful,  to  make  the  connexion  be 
tween  the  government,  that  is  morality  as  declared  by 
law,  and  religion,  as  apparent  as  possible.  Where  the 
reality  of  this  connexion  is  fully  established  in  public 
opinion,  it  would  show  a  great  want  of  true  statesmanship 
not  to  make  use  of  that  opinion  as  an  element  in  the  con 
stitution  of  a  new  political  society. 

Of  ancient  states  Rome  is  the  one,  in  which  the  natu 
ral  alliance  between  religion  and  government  was  most 
distinctly  perceived  and  turned  to  the  best  account. — 
"  However  highly  we  may  value  ourselves,  Conscript 
Fathers/7  says  Cicero  in  one  of  his  addresses  to  the  se 
nate,  "  it  is  certain  that  we  have  not  exceeded  Spain 


198 

in  population,  nor  the  Gauls  in  corporeal  vigour,  nor  the 
Carthagenians  in  shrewdness,  nor  the  Greeks  in  art,  nor 
even  the  other  Italians  in  love  for  the  native  soil ;  but 
in  piety,  religion,  and  the  one  great  science  that  all 
human  things  are  directed  and  governed  by  the  will  of 
God,  we  have  gone  beyond  all  other  nations."  Lord 
Bacon  makes  no  scruple  of  attributing  to  this  difference 
the  elevated  policy  and  consequent  success  of  this  illus 
trious  republic.  "  Never,"  says  he,  before  quoting  the 
above  passage,  "  never  was  there  such  a  state  for  mag 
nanimity  as  Rome."  Peculiar  circumstances,  which 
were  hinted  at  in  the  former  part  of  this  work,  and 
which  I  have  not  room  to  enlarge  upon  here,  prevented 
the  reality  and  great  advantages  of  the  union  of  govern 
ment  and  religion  from  being  perceived,  in  the  princi 
pal  states  of  modern  Europe,  and  in  fact,  as  I  have  said 
above,  exalted  the  contrary  principle  of  the  natural  se 
paration  of  church  and  state  into  a  sort  of  received  axi 
om,  especially  among  those  persons  who  affected  an  in 
dependent  and  popular  way  of  thinking  on  political 
matters.  These  states  have  experienced  in  consequence, 
in  greater  or  less  degrees,  both  the  inconveniences  which 
I  have  mentioned  above,  as  results  of  this  axiom  applied 
to  practice.  They  have  been  and  still  are  distracted 
by  dissensions  between  the  two  lawgiving  powers,  and 
have  lost  the  advantage  of  founding  their  legislation  on 
the  firm  basis  of  a  direct  religious  sanction.  The  two 
countries  in  which  these  inconveniences  have  been  least 
felt,  and  in  which  the  political  arrangements  on  this  sub 
ject,  though  not  perfect,  approach  most  nearly  to  the 
correct  ideal  model,  are  England  and  the  United  States. 


199 

In  England  the  king,  who  represents  in  his  person  the 
sovereign  power  of  the  nation,  is  also  the  head  of  the 
church ;  so  that  the  unity  of  church  and  state  is  com 
plete,  and  the  system  thus  far  theoretically  perfect.  By 
this  arrangement,  one  of  the  two  practical  inconveni 
ences  above  indicated,  to  wit,  that  of  collision  between 
the  two  lawgiving  powers,  is  wholly  avoided.  Nor  has 
the  advantage  of  investing  the  laws  with  a  religious 
sanction  been  entirely  overlooked,  since  Christianity  has 
been  declared  by  the  competent  authorities  to  be  par 
cel  of  the  law.  But  as  the  unity  of  church  and  state 
was  declared  in  England  by  Henry  VIII.,  more  for  the 
purpose  of  escaping  from  the  partial  supremacy  of  a 
foreign  prince,  than  from  a  perception  of  the  essential 
correctness  and  expediency  of  the  system,  it  has  not 
been  turned  so  much  to  account  as  it  might  have  been, 
nor  perhaps  has  the  full  virtue  of  the  law  maxim  above 
stated  been  distinctly  appreciated.  In  the  United  States, 
the  sovereign  power  in  religion  as  well  as  politics  resides 
in  the  people,  and  here  again  the  unity  of  church  and 
state  is  complete,  the  system  theoretically  perfect,  and 
the  practical  inconvenience  of  collision  between  the  two 
lawgiving  powers  entirely  avoided.  With  us  too  Chris 
tianity  is  parcel  of  the  law,  and  the  state  is  therefore, 
to  a  certain  extent,  consecrated  (in  the  language  of 
Burke)  by  religion.  But  with  us  also,  this  arrange 
ment  was  the  result  of  causes,  other  than  a  distinct  per 
ception  of  its  essential  value,  though  different  also  from 
those  which  introduced  it  in  England.  In  this  country 
it  was  the  result  of  the  general  prevalence  of  the  com 
mon  opinion,  alluded  to  above,  respecting  the  natural 


200 

separation  of  church  and  state.     However  singular  it 
may  seem,  that  the  universal  belief  in  this  principle,  and, 
as  our  legislators  supposed,  the  practical  adoption  of  it, 
should  have  produced,  in  fact,  the  directly  opposite  re 
sult  of  a  perfect  unity  of  the  two  lawgiving  powers,  it 
is  nevertheless  certain  that  this  was  the  case.     Our  an 
cestors  denied  that  religion  had  any  concern  with  go 
vernment,  and  therefore   kept  it  entirely  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  political  agents  of  the  people.  .  The  con 
trolling  power  on  this  subject  remained,  of  course,  like 
every  other  not  specially  granted,  with   the   people 
itself,  which  in  our  country,  where  the  people  is  the 
acknowledged  sovereign,  is  its  proper  place,  on  the 
system  of  a  unity  of  church  and  state.     But  as  this  sys 
tem  was  thus  introduced  by  a  sort  of  accident,  its  real 
value  has  not  been  generally  felt.     No  attempts  have 
been  made  to  improve  it  to  the  greatest  possible  extent, 
and  the  laws  have  hitherto  wanted  the  advantage  of  a 
direct  religious  sanction.     In  this  important  particular, 
therefore,  the  position  of  England  and  the  United  States 
is  nearly  the  same.     In  both  the  general  theory  of  the 
constitution  on  the  subject  of  religion  is  perfect,  and  in 
each  it  will  perhaps  be  found  expedient  to  introduce 
some  new  practical  arrangements,  whenever  the  public 
opinion  shall  be  prepared  to  receive  them  with  appro 
bation.     This,  however,  will  not  happen  in  our  day. 

In  Spanish  America  the  public  opinion,  on  this  whole 
subject,  was  diametrically  opposite  to  what  it  was  and 
still  is  in  this  country ;  and  was  as  much  in  favour  of  a 
powerful  intervention  of  the  religious  principle,  in  the 
machinery  of  government,  as  it  would  have  been  with 


£01 

us  against  it,  if  such  an  idea  had  been  for  a  moment  en 
tertained  and  suggested  by  any  one.  In  Spanish  Ame 
rica,  such  an  intervention  was  in  perfect  conformity  with 
the  long  established  order  of  things;  and  the  new  con 
stitutions  might  have  been  consecrated  by  a  direct 
religious  sanction,  without  the  least  innovation  upon 
received  opinions,  or  rather  in  perfect  accordance  with 
them.  If  then  religion  be  in  general  the  natural  foun 
dation  of  law  and  government,  if  it  had  long  been 
established  as  such  in  Spanish  America,  and  if  this  state 
of  things  was  approved  by  the  undoubted  verdict  of  the 
public  faith  and  feeling,  why  not  maintain  it  as  the  basis 
of  the  new  institutions,  and  build  upon  it  such  additions 
as  were  necessary,  instead  of  going  abroad  to  borrow 
another  principle  ?  I  speak  with  great  diffidence  on  this 
subject,  as  every  one  is  bound  to  do,  in  criticising  the 
government  of  a  foreign  nation ;  but  it  seems  to  me,  I 
confess,  that  religion  should  have  been  made  by  the  law 
givers  of  the  south,  the  principle  in  forming  their  poli 
tical  creations,  in  the  same  way  that  liberty  was  with 
us ;  and  I  think  that  in  pursuing  this  line  of  conduct, 
they  would  have  imitated  much  more  perfectly  the  pro 
ceedings  of  our  legislators,  than  they  have  done,  because 
they  would  in  that  case  have  acted  in  their  spirit 
instead  of  copying  the  form  of  their  works.  Whether 
a  government  formed  upon  this  basis  would  or  would  not 
have  been  for  practice  as  good  as  ours,  is  a  question 
which  we  need  not  undertake  to  determine.  Religion 
and  liberty  are  both  excellent  things,  founded  in  truth, 
dear  to  the  wise  and  good  of  all  countries,  the  sources 
of  our  happiness  and  the  basis  of  our  hopes.  To  be 


202 

able  to  employ  either  of  them  as  the  corner  stone  of  the 
social  fabric,  is  a  piece  of  good  fortune  that  ought  to  sa 
tisfy  the  ambition  of  any  community.  To  inquire  for 
any  practical  purpose,  which  is  preferable  as  a  principle 
of  government,  would  be  to  suppose  that  either  might 
be  adopted  with  equal  facility,  which  is  certainly  not 
the  case  in  Spanish  America,  and  probably  never  was 
or  will  be  in  any  country  on  the  globe.  If  the  question 
be  asked  in  reference  merely  to  theory,  it  may  be  an 
swered  that  as  principles  of  government  each  have  pe 
culiar  advantages.  Liberty  defines  the  law  with  greater 
certainty,  and  religion  enforces  it  with  more  effect. — 
Liberty  is  enterprising,  restless,  sometimes  turbulent, 
and  not  unwilling  to  look  for  occupation  beyond  the 
limi's  of  her  own  territory.  Religion  on  the  contrary, 
abides  in  peace,  and  is  bent  on  maintaining  it  abroad  and 
at  home.  Liberty  is  better  suited  to  the  youth  of  na 
tions,  and  religion  to  their  riper  period;  and  that  people 
perhaps  would  be  the  happiest  of  all,  which  should  be 
established  and  grow  up  under  the  auspices  of  liberty, 
and  then  in  the  progress  of  years  pass,  by  a  natural  and 
easy  gradation,  under  the  dominion  of  religion;  the 
case  of  nations  being  different  in  this  respect  from  that 
of  individuals,  with  whom  religion,  though  always  indis 
pensable,  is  more  especially  beneficial  as  a  rule  of  con 
duct  in  youth.  As  principles  of  government,  the  two 
however  are  not  inconsistent,  because  the  law  of  nature, 
whether  published  as  the  will  of  the  people  or  the  will 
of  God,  is  still  the  same;  and  sanctions,  in  the  latter 
case,  all  the  just  rights  of  individuals,  as  in  the  former 
it  still  appeals,  though  indirectly,  to  its  divine  origin, 


203 

as  the  proper  source  of  its  obligatory  character.  Bui 
without  carrying  any  farther  these  general  considera 
tions,  which,  as  I  observed  above,  have  no  immediate 
application  in  practice  to  this  or  any  other  case,  it  is 
sufficient  to  observe,  that  in  omitting  to  adopt  as  the  basis 
of  these  new  institutions,  the  one  of  these  two  principles 
which  was  placed  at  their  disposal  by  the  existing  state 
of  the  country,  and  attempting  to  introduce  the  other, 
in  deference  to  the  example  of  a  foreign  nation,  they 
have,  I  fear,  unnecessarily  resigned  a  great  positive  ad 
vantage,  and  exposed  themselves,  to  say  the  least,  to 
great  eventual  danger.  It  may  be  thought  by  some  that 
all  the  virtue  of  the  religious  principle  will  be  secured 
by  an  established  church ;  but  it  is  much  to  be  feared, 
I  think,  that  such  an  institution  standing  in  connexion 
with  others  belonging  to  a  different  order  of  political 
forms  and  principles,  will  be  a  source  of  weakness  rather 
than  of  strength.  It  may  well  be  doubted  how  far  an 
established  church,  if  at  least  it  correspond  at  all  in  form 
with  those  already  existing  in  other  countries,  can  be 
reconciled  with  a  government  of  a  wholly  popular  kind. 
The  supremacy  of  the  pope  and  his  pretensions  to  ap 
point  the  principal  ecclesiastical  dignitaries,  would 
hardly  consist  with  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  and 
their  consequent  inherent  right  to  exercise,  either  in 
person  or  by  delegates,  every  function  belonging  there 
to,  whether  political  or  religious.  Considered  under  this 
point  of  view,  the  objections  that  have  been  made  to 
the  adoption  of  an  established  church,  as  a  part  of  the 
new  political  institutions  in  Spanish  America,  are  by  no 
means  without  foundation. 


204 

Paraguay,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  is  the  only 
section  of  this  vast  region  in  which  an  attempt  appears 
to  have  been  made  to  employ  the  religious  principle  as 
the  main  engine  of  government,  but  we  know  too  little 
of  the  general  situation  of  that  country,  and  in  particu 
lar  of  the  form  of  the  institutions  now  existing  there,  to 
be  able  to  say  how  far  they  are  likely  to  succeed,  and 
still  less  whether  they  would  be  a  proper  model  for  imi 
tation  in  other  parts  of  America.  The  Jesuits,  by  whom 
they  were  founded,  were  not  deficient  in  sagacity  or  in 
struction  ;  and  the  country,  while  under  their  direction, 
appeared  to  flourish.  The  situation  of  it,  since  it  was 
.taken  from  their  hands,  is  in  a  great  measure  unknown 
and  will  continue  to  be,  as  long  as  the  present  rigorous 
system  of  exclusion  is  enforced  against  foreigners.  This 
feature  in  the  government  of  Paraguay  we  may  venture 
unequivocally  to  condemn,  whatever  may  be  the  cha 
racter  of  the  rest.  It  is  probably,  however,  a  measure 
of  temporary  policy,  adopted  with  a  view  of  counteract 
ing  the  contagious  influence  of  the  revolutionary  move 
ments  going  on  in  the  neighbourhood.  But  whatever 
may  be  its  object,  it  makes  it  impossible  for  the  moment 
to  obtain  any  accurate  information  of  the  state  of  this 
very  peculiarly  situated  community,  and  of  course  to 
dwell  at  any  length  upon  the  nature  of  its  institutions. 
Doctor  Francia,  who  is  now  at  the  head  of  them,  seems  to 
be  a  man  of  a  powerful  character,  but  his  history  is  very 
little  known  and  his  intentions  seem  to  be  obscure;  at 
least  the  state  papers  to  which  his  name  is  affixed,  are 
evidently  drawn  up  on  purpose  in  a  style  better  fitted 
to  conceal  his  views  than  to  explain  them.  We  must 


205 

leave  him  and  his  government  as  enigmas  to  he  solved 
by  the  progress  of  years  and  future  events. 

If  these  general  observations  upon  the  political  insti 
tutions  which  have  been  established  in  the  several  parts 
of  Spanish  America  are  at  all  correct,  it  follows  of  course, 
that  there  is  no  necessity  of  examining  in  great  detail 
those  of  each  distinct  section.  They  are  all  copied  from 
one  common  model,  resemble  each  other  very  nearly  in 
their  external  form,  and  are  alike  liable  to  the  objection 
that  they  have  little  or  no  foundation  in  the  condition 
and  character  of  the  people.  Reasoning  on  general 
principles,  it  is  of  course  impossible  not  to  draw  the 
conclusion  that  they  are  destined  to  undergo  many  very 
important  changes,  before  they  settle  down  into  a  fixed 
and  permanent  shape.  We  are  not  to  suppose,  how 
ever,  that  because  there  is  a  probability  of  the  recur 
rence  of  such  changes,  the  political  situation  of  these 
countries  is  desperate ;  that  the  objects  for  which  they 
have  been  so  long  struggling  are  unattainable ;  or  that 
they  are  destined  to  return  to  their  ancient  subjection  to 
Spain.  Their  independence  may  be  regarded  as  a  set 
tled  thing,  settled  as  well  by  the  imbecility  of  Spain, 
as  by  the  power  and  resources  of  the  new  states.  There 
is,  therefore,  no  chance  of  their  future  subjugation  by 
this  or  any  other  foreign  state.  They  will  in  all  proba 
bility  be  left  entirely  to  themselves  as  regards  the  for 
mation  of  their  governments,  and  will  have  an  opportu 
nity  of  founding,  new  modelling,  and  improving,  until 
they  shall  have  placed  them  at  last  upon  their  true  and 
natural  basis.  If,  as  there  is  room  to  suppose,  they  have 
not  perfectly  succeeded  in  their  first  attempts,  the  fact 


206 

; 

is  neither  singular  nor  very  alarming.  Every  thing  is 
yet  in  a  state  of  revolution,  and  it  is  at  this  moment  as 
easy  and  familiar  a  matter  in  all  these  countries  to  found 
or  reform  a  constitution,  as  it  is  in  a  long  established 
government  to  pass  an  ordinary  law,  or  to  publish  a  royal 
decree.  The  best  advice  that  foreigners  can  give  them  is 
to  abjure  all  foreign  influence  and  example,  and  to  act  as 
much  as  they  can  for  themselves,upon  a  careful  and  correct 
view  of  their  own  internal  situation.  With  this  counsel 
and  the  heartiest  wishes  for  their  ultimate  success,  we 
must  leave  them  in  the  hands  of  the  great  disposer  of 
human  affairs. 

In  the  empire  of  Brazil  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
accommodate  the  liberal  political  institutions  of  England 
and  the  United  States  to  a  condition  of  society  still  less 
fitted  to  receive  them,  if  we  are  rightly  informed  res 
pecting  it,  than  that  of  most  parts  of  Spanish  America. 
The  popular  provisions  of  the  new  system  may,  there 
fore,  be  considered  for  a  time  at  least,  as  a  dead  letter. 
The  only  substantial  thing  about  it  is  the  crown  and  the 
military  force  at  the  emperor's  disposal.  But  even  this 
institution  of  royalty,  unsupported  as  it  is  by  tradition, 
and  foreign  to  the  feelings  of  the  new  world,  can  hardly 
be  looked  upon  as  very  stable ;  and  the  Portuguese,  as 
well  as  the  Spanish  division  of  our  continent,  is  proba 
bly  destined  to  undergo  various  revolutions,  before  it 
settles  down  under  a  fixed  and  lasting  government.  In 
the  course  of  these  events,  it  will  not  be  surprising  if 
the  Emperor  Pedro  should  have  occasion  to  repent  of 
the  premature  stirrings  of  his  youthful  ambition;  and 
should  look  back  with  some  regret  to  his  quiet  little 


207 

patrimony  on  the  banks  of  the  Tagus,  where  his  ances 
tors  had  reposed  in  peace  for  centuries,  and  where  the 
banner  of  England  over  them  was  fear  if  not  love. 

The  observations  in  the  preceding  chapter  on  the  do 
mestic  policy  of  the  United  States,  apply  without  altera 
tion  to  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  sections  of  the  con 
tinent.  I  shall  therefore  proceed  at  once  to  the  consi 
deration  of  the  foreign  policy  of  this  our  western  world, 
which  naturally  divides  itself  into  two  distinct  heads, 
the  international  relations  of  the  two  Americas,  and  the 
policy  of  both,  as  respects  the  rest  of  Christendom.  I 
shall  devote  a  chapter  to  each  of  these  subjects,  and  shall 
then  in  another  make  a  few  brief  remarks  upon  the  po 
pular  and  interesting  topic  of  the  congress  at  Panama, 


20$ 


CHAPTER  VI. 

European  Colonies  in  America. 

THE  authority  of  Europe?  which  prevailed  half  a 
century  ago  over  our  whole  western  world,  is  now  ac 
knowledged  only  in  the  comparatively  desolate  and 
uninhabited  although  extensive  regions,  north  of  the 
limits  of  the  United  States,  and  the  islands  in  the  Gulph 
of  Mexico.  It  is  also  not  difficult  to  foresee  on  the  most 
obvious  general  principles,  that  these  remaining  posses 
sions  must  sooner  or  later  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  rest, 
and  become  like  them,  in  one  way  or  another,  indepen 
dent  of  the  mother  continent.  In  a  political  system  so 
young  and  vigorous  as  ours,  the  absorbing  power  is  too 
great  to  permit  these  foreign  substances  to  continue  very 
long  undisturbed  within  the  sphere  of  its  action,  and 
they  must  ultimately  be  all  taken  up  and  assimilated  to 
the  mass.  Considered,  therefore,  merely  as  European 
colonies,  there  is  little  to  be  said  of  them,  except  that 
they  must  after  a  while  cease  to  be  so.  The  time  when 
this  revolution  will  occur,  the  circumstances  under  which 
it  will  be  effected,  and  the  results  that  will  follow  it,  are 
matters  so  completely  uncertain  and  conjectural,  that  it 
would  be  useless  to  speculate  upon  them  at  any  great 
length.  I  shall  accordingly  confine  myself  in  the  present 
chapter  to  a  few  very  brief  and  superficial  observations. 


209 

The  British  possessions  that  overhang  our  whole 
northern  border,  and  the  Spanish  islands  which  lie  so 
near  our  southern  coast,  and  would  in  powerful  hands 
command  the  outlets  of  our  western  waters,  are  now  the 
principal  appendages  remaining  to  Europe  in  this  part 
of  the  world,  and  are  especially  those  in  regard  to  which 
the  people  of  the  United  States  have  a  right  to  feel  the 
strongest  interest.  The  former  are  probably  destined 
to  pass  a  longer  term  of  colonial  dependence  than  the 
latter.  The  principle  of  adhesion  between  a  metropoli 
tan  government  and  its  remote  dominions,  depends  very 
much  upon  its  own  strength  and  resources.  While  the 
ruling  state  preserves  its  greatness,  the  colonies  naturally 
continue  to  acknowledge  its  authority.  Our  revolution, 
in  this  as  in  almost  every  other  respect,  was  an  excep 
tion  from  all  known  rules.  When,  on  the  contrary,  the 
vital  spirit  ceases  to  animate  the  central  organs  of  the 
body  politic,  it  cannot  of  course  be  very  active  in  the 
extremities,  and  the  latter  must  either  fall  off  or  be 
abandoned  by  the  power  that  before  protected  them.  It 
was  thus  that  in  the  declining  period  of  the  Roman  em 
pire  these  very  British  islands  begged,  and  begged  in 
vain,  to  be  treated  as  a  subject  province,  and  were  com 
pelled  to  receive  with  reluctance  and  groans  the  boon 
of  independence.  Since  that  time  the  state  of  things 
has  materially  changed,  and  such  is  now,  and  probably 
may  be  for  two  or  three  centuries  to  come,  the  political 
power  of  England,  that  her  distant  appendages  will 
scarcely  attempt  or  even  desire  to  change  their  position. 
Her  greatness,  however,  being  founded  principally  on 
foreign  commerce,  and  not  sustained  by  a  corresponding 

27 


210 

territorial  basis,  must  of  course  undergo  a  somewhat 
rapid  decline,  and  the  time  when  this  shall  happen  will 
be  the  period,  for  the  scattered  and  heterogeneous  pos 
sessions  of  this  queen  of  the  ocean  and  mistress  of  islands 
to  assume  respectively  an  independent  life.  The  Cana- 
das,  the  East  Indies,  New  Holland,  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  the  rest  of  the  colonies,  will  then  separate 
their  fortunes,  and  severally  provide  for  their  conve 
nience  and  safety,  in  the  manner  which  may  appear  to 
eac  h  most  expedient. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  at  this  epoch,  whenever  it 
may  arrive,  the  British  colonies  in  North  America  may 
voluntarily  connect  themselves  with  our  republic.  I  say 
not  this  because  I  feel  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
any  wish  for  territorial  extension,  still  less  for  actual 
conquest  in  that  quarter.  Should  these  provinces,  when 
they  shall  separate  from  the  other  portions  of  the  Bri 
tish  empire,  erect  themselves  into  an  independent  nation 
or  nations,  they  would  then  be  as  regards  the  United 
States  in  the  situation  of  weaker  powers  in  the  neigh 
bourhood  of  a  stronger ;  and  this  relation  might  well  be 
considered  as  at  least  equally  flattering  to  our  pride 
with  the  other,  if  not  more  so.  But  looking  merely  to 
the  operation  of  general  causes,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted 
that  it  would  be  the  policy  of  these  colonies,  considered 
under  every  point  of  view,  commercial  or  political,  to 
form  a  part  of  our  union,  rather  than  to  exist  in  a  sepa 
rate  state.  It  would  also,  for  the  most  obvious  reasons,  be 
our  policy  to  assent  to  this  connexion,  whenever  it  might 
be  by  them  spontaneously  proposed.  A  result  of  this 
kind  is  wholly  independent  of  the  possible  course  of 


211 

events  in  any  future  contest  with  England.  Had  we 
subdued  Canada  in  the  last  war,  or  should  we  do  it  at 
any  time  hereafter,  we  should  of  course  restore  it  at  the 
conclusion  of  peace,  which  would  never  be  made  upon 
any  other  basis  than  that  of  prior  possession.  While, 
however,  the  British  empire  retains  its  vigour,  which, 
as  I  observed  before,  may  probably  be  for  two  or  three 
centuries  to  come,  its  distant  appendages  will  doubtless 
adhere  to  it;  and  Canada  may  perhaps  be  one  of  the 
last  that  will  fall  off.  It  would,  therefore,  be  wholly 
premature  to  enlarge  upon  the  subject  now.  The  events 
of  future  centuries  may  be  left  with  safety  to  the  care 
of  future  generations. 

The  separation  of  the  Spanish  West  Indian  islands 
from  the  mother  country,  is  an  occurrence  probably 
much  less  distant.  Spain  has  now  reached  in  her  course 
of  decline  and  fall  the  period  of  weakness  alluded  to 
above,  when  a  government  naturally  loses  or  abandons 
its  remote  possessions.  Her  feeble  and  distracted  con 
dition,  as  I  had  occasion  to  remark  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  is  the  circumstance  that  has  principally  favour 
ed  the  attempts  of  the  popular  party  in  the  colonies,  and 
which  still  secures  their  independence.  The  same  cause 
had  previously  induced  the  inhabitants  of  Cuba  to  as 
sume  a  virtual  sovereignty  as  respects  their  foreign 
trade,  while  they  continued  in  form  and  name  to  adhere 
to  the  crown.  In  consequence  of  this  arrangement  they 
enjoyed  most  of  the  benefits  of  actual  independence, 
without  exposing  themselves  to  the  risks  that  might 
eventually  grow  out  of  even  a  successful  effort  to  obtain 
it.  How  long  this  precarious  and  as  it  were  provisional 


212 

state  of  things  is  likely  to  last,  and  under  what  circum 
stances  it  will  probably  be  changed,  are  questions  of  con 
siderable  interest  to  the  people  of  the  United  States ; 
but  they  are  too  delicate,  on  several  accounts,  to  be 
treated  here  in  detail. 

The  republic  of  Hayti,  without  belonging  precisely 
to  the  class  of  European  colonies  in  America,  seems  to 
hold  its  independence  by  a  somewhat  doubtful  tenure, 
(the  price  that  is  to  be  given  for  it  being  not  yet  paid,) 
and  may  be  considered  with  propriety  in  the  same  sec 
tion.  Notwithstanding  the  very  questionable  character 
of  the  late  transaction  with  France,  (which  does,  how 
ever,  quite  as  little  honour  to  that  powerful  kingdom  as 
to  its  ancient  colony,)  the  example  of  Hayti  has  been 
upon  the  whole  of  a  nature  to  encourage  the  expecta 
tions  of  the  friends  of  humanity,  in  regard  to  the  capa 
city  of  the  black  race,  for  self-government  and  the  arts 
and  habits  of  civilized  life.  It  would  be  difficult  indeed 
to  assign  any  sufficient  ground  for  the  supposition  of  an 
essential  inferiority  in  this  branch  of  the  human  family, 
or  in  fact  of  any  real  inequality  among  the  varieties  of 
the  species  indicated  by  their  differences  of  colour,  form, 
or  physical  structure.  If  (which  may  well  be  doubted) 
such  a  prejudice  has  ever  prevailed  among  enlightened 
men,  it  is  probably  rare  at  present,  and  may  be  expected 
to  become  continually  more  and  more  so.  There  are 
no  facts,  as  far  at  least  as  I  am  acquainted  with  the  sub 
ject,  which  authorise  the  conclusion  that  any  one  of  the 
several  varieties  of  our  race  is  either  intellectually  or 
morally  superior  or  inferior  to  the  rest,  and  there  are 
certainly  enough  that  attest  the  contrary.  Each  great 


213 

division  of  the  species  has  had  in  its  turn  the  advantage 
in  civilization,  that  is  in  industry,  wealth,  and  know 
ledge,  and  the  power  they  confer ;  and  during  this  pe 
riod  of  conscious  triumph,  each  has  doubtless  been  in 
clined  to  regard  itself  as  a  favoured  race,  endowed  by 
nature  and  Providence  with  an  essential  superiority  over 
all  the  others.  But  on  reviewing  the  course  of  history, 
we  find  this  accidental  difference  uniformly  disappear 
ing  after  a  while,  and  the  sceptre  of  civilization  passing 
from  the  hands  of  the  supposed  superior  race  into  those 
of  some  other,  before  inferior,  which  claims  in  its  turn, 
for  a  while,  a  similar  distinction.  As  respects  the  im 
mediate  question,  it  would  seem  from  even  a  slight  ex 
amination,  that  the  blacks  (whether  of  African  or  Asiatic 
origin)  have  not  only  a  fair  right  to  be  considered  as  natu 
rally  equal  to  men  of  any  other  colour,  but  are  even  not 
without  some  plausible  pretensions  to  a  claim  of  supe 
riority.  At  the  present  day  they  are  doubtless,  as  far 
as  we  have  any  knowledge  of  them,  much  inferior  to 
the  whites,  and  have  been  so  for  several  centuries ;  but 
at  more  than  one  preceding  period,  they  have  been  for 
a  length  of  time  at  the  head  of  civilization  and  political 
power,  and  must  be  regarded  as  the  real  authors  of  most 
of  the  arts  and  sciences  which  give  us  at  present  the 
advantage  over  them.  While  Greece  and  Rome  were 
yet  barbarous,  we  find  the  light  of  learning  and  im 
provement  emanating  from  this,  by  supposition,  degrad 
ed  and  accursed  continent  of  Africa,  out  of  the  midst  of 
this  very  woolly  haired,  flat  nosed,  thick  lipped,  coal 
black  race,  which  some  persons  are  tempted  to  station 
at  a  pretty  low  intermediate  point  between  men  and 


214 

monkies.  It  is  to  Egypt,  if  to  any  nation,  that  we  must 
look  as  the  real  antiqua  mater  of  the  ancient  and  mo 
dern  refinement  of  Europe.  The  colonies  that  civilized 
Greece,  the  founders  of  Argos,  Athens,  Delphi,  and 
so  forth,  came  from  Egypt,  and  for  centuries  afterwards 
their  descendants  constantly  returned  to  Egypt  as  the 
source  and  centre  of  civilization.  There  it  was  that 
the  generous  and  stirring  spirits  of  those  days,  Pytha 
goras,  Homer,  Solon,  Herodotus,  Plato,  and  the  rest, 
made  their  noble  journies  of  intellectual  and  moral  dis 
covery,  as  ours  now  make  them  in  England,  France, 
Germany,  and  Italy.  The  great  lawgiver  of  the  Jews 
was  prepared  for  his  divine  mission  by  a  course  of  in 
struction  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians.  But 
Egypt,  as  we  know  from  Herodotus  who  travelled  there, 
was  peopled  at  that  time  by  a  black  race  with  woolly 
hair;*  and  the  historian  adds  in  the  same  passage,  that 
these  physical  qualities  were  also  proper  to  so  many 
other  nations,  that  they  hardly  formed  a  distinction.  It 
appears  in  fact,  that  the  whole  south  of  Asia  and  north 
of  Africa  were  then  possessed  by  a  number  of  powerful, 
polished,  and  civilized  communities  of  kindred  origin, 
differing  among  themselves  in  some  points  of  their  out 
ward  conformation,  but  all  black.  Ethiopia,  a  country 
of  which  the  history  is  almost  entirely  shrouded  in  the 
night  of  ages,  and  of  which  we  know  little  or  nothing, 
'except  that  it  must  have  been  in  its  day  a  seat  of  high 
civilization  and  great  power,  probably  the  fountain  of 
the  improvement  of  Egypt  and  western  Asia,  was  inha- 

*  Euterpe,  sec.  104< 


215 

bited  by  blacks.  It  then  comprehended  the  country  oil 
both  sides  of  the  Red  Sea,  whence  the  Ethiopians  are 
said  by  Homer  to  be  divided  into  two  parts.  The  great 
Assyrian  empires  of  Babylon  and  Nineveh,  hardly  less 
illustrious  than  Egypt  in  arts  and  arms,  were  founded 
by  Ethiopian  colonies,  and  peopled  by  blacks.  Hence 
it  was  a  doubtful  question,  at  a  time  when  the  historical 
traditions  of  these  countries  had  become  a  little  obscure, 
whether  the  famous  black  Prince  Memnon  who  served 
among  the  auxiliaries  on  the  side  of  Troy,  at  the  siege 
of  that  city  by  the  Greeks,  was  a  native  of  Babylon  or 
Ethiopia  proper,  and  he  was  claimed  as  a  citizen  in  both 
these  places.  Strabo  tells  us  that  the  whole  of  Assyria 
south  of  Mount  Taurus,  (including,  besides  Babylon 
and  Nineveh,  Phoenicia,  Tyre,  and  all  Arabia,)  was  in 
habited  by  blacks;  but  there  seems  to  have  been  some 
mixture  of  whites  among  them,  for  the  Jews  fall  within 
this  region,  and  the  Arabs  of  the  present  day,  al 
though  dark,  can  hardly  be  called  black.  These,  like 
the  Medes  and  Persians,  who  were  also  white,  were  pro 
bably  colonies  of  the  white  Syrians,  described  by  the 
same  author  as  dwelling  beyond  Mount  Taurus,  which 
had  emigrated  to  the  south.  But  Palestine  or  Canaan, 
before  its  conquest  by  the  Jews,  is  represented  in  Scrip 
ture,  as  well  as  other  histories,  as  peopled  by  blacks^ 
and  hence  it  follows  that  Tyre  and  her  colony  Carthage, 
the  most  industrious,  wealthy,  and  polished  states  of 
their  time,  were  of  this  colour.  In  these  swarthy  re 
gions  were  first  promulgated  the  three  religions  which 
have  exercised  the  strongest  influence  on  the  fortunes 
of  the  world,  two  of  which  we  receive  as  divine  reve- 


216 

lations ;  and,  as  far  as  human  agency  was  concerned  in 
it,  we  must  look  to  Egypt  as  the  original  fountain  bf  our 
faith,  which,  though  developed  and  completed  in  the 
new  Testament,  reposes  on  the  basis  of  the  old.  This 
consideration  alone  should  suffice  with  Christians  to  res 
cue  the  black  race  and  the  continent  they  inhabit,  from 
any  suspicion  of  inferiority.  It  appears,  in  short,  that 
this  race,  from  the  period  immediately  following  the  de 
luge  down  to  the  conquest  of  Assyria  and  Egypt  by  the 
Persians,  and  the  fall  of  Carthage,  enjoyed  a  decided 
preponderance  throughout  the  whole  ancient  western 
world.  It  is  true,  that  after  thus  leading  the  march  of 
civilization  for  about  two  thousand  years  in  succession, 
maturing  the  profound  and  solid  wisdom  of  Egypt, 
founding  the  splendid  but  transitory  fabric  of  Greek 
refinement,  and  assisting  at  the  first  communication  of 
our  holy  faith;  after  inventing  and  carrying  to  a  high 
degree  of  perfection,  almost  all  the  arts  and  sciences  of 
which  we  are  now  so  proud;  after  covering  the  banks  of 
the  Ganges,  the  Euphrates,  arid  the  Nile  with  miracles 
of  power  and  skill,  which  have  not  only  never  been  sur 
passed  or  equalled,  but  of  which  at  present  we  can  hardly 
conceive  the  possibility ;  after  modelling  their  civil  and 
political  institutions  with  such  a  masterly  insight  into  hu 
man  nature,  as  to  fix  through  them,  probably  for  ever, 
the  stamp  of  their  peculiar  genius  on  the  social  organi 
zation  of  the  world;  after  effecting  all  this,  it  is  true  that 
they  finally  began  to  fall  before  the  rising  greatness  of 
their  own  accomplished  and  vigorous  pupils,  and  have 
been,  with  the  exception  (if  we  choose  to  rank  the  Arabs 
among  them)  of  one  later  period  of  passing  triumph. 


217 

(which  lasted,  however,  for  six  or  seven  centuries,) 
during  which  they  adorned  the  close  of  their  high  ca 
reer  with  the  wild  and  brilliant  glory  of  the  Saracen 
ascendancy,  and  produced  a  third  religion,  which,  how 
ever  inferior  to  the  others,  is  the  purest,  next  to  them, 
that  has  yet  been  published, — have  been,  I  say,  with  this 
exception,  declining  ever  since,  until  they  sunk  at  last 
below  the  level  of  the  whites,  where  they  have  remain 
ed,  as  far  as  we  have  any  knowledge  of  their  condition, 
for  several  centuries  past.  This  inferiority  is  likely 
enough  to  continue,  and  it  is  perhaps  as  improbable 
(though  not  more  so)  that  the  black  race  will  ever  re 
vive  the  wonders  of  Egypt  and  Babylon,  as  that  Greece 
will  rear  Epaminondas  again,  or  the  bees  of  Hymettus 
cluster  in  our  time,  on  the  infant  lips  of  another  Plato. 
Nations  and  races,  like  individuals,  have  their  day,  and 
seldom  have  a  second.  The  blacks  had  a  long  and  glo 
rious  one ;  and  after  what  they  have  been  and  done,  it 
argues  not  so  much  a  mistaken  theory  as  sheer  ignorance 
of  the  most  notorious  historical  facts,  to  pretend  that  they 
are  naturally  inferior  to  the  whites.  It  would  seem, 
indeed,  as  I  have  hinted  before,  that  if  any  race  have  a 
right  to  claim  a  sort  of  pre-eminence  over  others,  on  the 
fair  and  honourable  ground  of  talents  displayed,  and 
benefits  conferred,  it  is  precisely  this  very  one,  which  * 
we  take  upon  us,  in  the  pride  of  a  temporary  superiority, 
to  stamp  with  the  brand  of  essential  degradation.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  add,  that  while  the  blacks  were  the 
leading  race  in  civilization  and  political  power,  there 

28 


218 

was  no  prejudice  among  the  whites  against  their  colour. 
We  find  on  the  contrary,  that  the  early  Greeks  regarded 
them  as  a  superior  variety  of  the  species,  not  only  in  in 
tellectual  and  moral  qualities,  but  in  outward  appearance. 
ff  The  Ethiopians,"  says  Herodotus,  "  surpass  all  other 
men  in  longevity,  stature,  and  personal  beauty.'7  The 
high  estimation  in  which  they  were  held  for  wisdom  and 
virtue,  is  strikingly  shown  by  the  mythological  fable 
current  among  the  ancient  Greeks,  and  repeatedly  al 
luded  to  by  Homer,  which  represented  the  Gods  as  going 
annually  in  a  body  to  make  a  long  visit  to  the  Ethio 
pians.  Their  absence  upon  this  excursion  is  the  reason 
given  by  Thetis  to  her  son  Achilles,  in  the  first  book  of 
the  Iliad,  for  not  laying  his  complaints  at  once  before  the 
highest  authority.  "  Jupiter,"  she  tells  him,  "  set  off 
yesterday  attended  by  all  the  Gods,  on  a  journey  towards 
the  ocean,  to  feast  with  the  excellent  Ethiopians,  and  is 
not  expected  back  at  Olympus  till  the  twelfth  day." 
This  was  an  honour  which  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
bestowed  upon  any  other  nation.  The  epithet  barba 
rous,  which  was  frequently  applied  by  the  Greeks  to  fo 
reigners  in  general,  and  which  in  our  modern  languages 
has  an  offensive  signification,  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  used  by  them  as  a  term  of  reproach .  It  may  pos 
sibly  have  acquired  that  character  at  a  later  period,  when 
the  greeks  were  really  superior  to  all  their  neighbours; 
but  the  word  seems  to  have  been  in  the  first  instance  a 
proper  name,  borrowed  from  some  foreign,  probably 
African  dialect.  It  is  still  retained  as  the  name  of  the 
north  of  Africa  and  its  inhabitants,  and  may  have  been 


219 

common  at  this  remote    period    to    the  whole   black 
race.* 

Notwithstanding  the  present  general  inferiority  of 
the  Africans,  we  find  even  now,  that  the  high  intellec 
tual  spirit  that  once  flashed  out  so  finely  in  their  sun 
burnt  climates  is  not  yet  wholly  quenched.  Major  Den- 
ham,  in  his  late  volume  of  travels,  has  presented  us  with 
several  specimens  of  contemporary  African  poetry, 
which  are  hardly  inferior  to  the  sweet  and  lofty  strains 


*  Barbary  is  a  proper  name  for  the  north  of  Africa;  and 
feerebber  or  Barbar  for  one  of  the  distinct  races  that  inhabit  it, 
and  are  scattered  thinly  over  its  whole  extent,  from  its  eastern 
to  its  western  extremity.  It  is  conjectured  b$  some  competent 
judges,  that  they  composed  the  original  population  of  this  re 
gion  before  its  conquest  by  the  Saracens.  (See  Quarterly  Re 
view  for  March,  1826,  p.  520.)  In  the  curious  geographical 
memoir  by  the  Sultan  of  Bello,  inserted  in  the  appendix  to 
Major  Denham's  travels,  it  is  stated  that  the  Barbar  formerly 
reigned  in  Syria.  It  would  thus  seem  that  at  some  remote  pe 
riod  this  name,  according  to  the  tradition  of  these  countries, 
was  common  to  the  whole  or  a  great  part  of  the  population  of 
the  southwest  of  Asia  and  north  of  Africa,  which  included 
nearly  all  the  foreign  nations  known  to  the  Greeks.  The  period 
indicated,  is  also  the  one  in  which  the  Greeks  habitually  em 
ployed  the  same  term,  to  express  foreign  nations  in  general.  A 
coincidence  of  this  kind  could  not  well  be  accidental,  and  there 
is,  therefore,  little  doubt  that  the  Greek  word  $a.%$at,%os  is  no 
other  than  the  proper  name  Barbar.  The  etymology  of  this 
word  has  considerably  engaged  the  attention  of  the  learned. 
(See  North  American  Review,  Vol.  IV,  p.  155.)  As  the  explana 
tion  given  above  appears  not  only  satisfactory  but  somewhat 
obvious,  it  is  rather  singular  that  it  should  not  have  been  offered 
before. 


220 

of  the  ancient  Monarch  Minstrel.  The  dirge  of  the 
Fezzaneers  in  honour  of  their  chief  Boo-Khaloom  will 
bear  a  comparison  with  the  lamentation  of  David  over 
Saul  and  Jonathan.  "  Give  him  songs  !  give  him  mu 
sic  !  what  words  can  equal  his  praise?  His  heart  was 
as  large  as  the  desert!  The  overflowings  of  his  coffers 
were  like  streams  from  the  udder  of  the  camel,  bringing 
health  and  refreshment  to  all  about  him."  An  extem 
pore  love  song,  of  which  the  major  has  inserted  a  trans 
lation,  unites  the  tenderness  and  purity  of  the  Canticles 
with  something  of  the  delicacy  of  imagery  that  distin 
guishes  the  poetry  of  Moore.  The  triumphal  ode  of 
the  Sheik  of  Bornou,  written  by  himself,  upon  his  re 
turn  from  a  victorious  expedition  against  the  Begharmies, 
is  still  more  remarkable,  and  may  fairly  be  considered  as 
poetry  of  the  first  order.  If  such  a  thing  were  to  be 
produced  by  one  of  the  reigning  sovereigns  of  Europe 
at  the  present  day,  we  should  not  hear  the  last  of  it  for 
twenty  years.  All  these  are  the  productions  of  Arabs, 
who  seem  to  have  had  from  the  beginning  a  more  poeti 
cal  spirit  than  the  other  kindred  races,  though  anciently 
inferior  to  some  of  them  in  most  branches  of  art  and 
science.  Of  the  actual  state  of  the  negro  nations  that 
inhabit  the  interior  of  Africa,  we  knew  little  or  nothing, 
until  the  late  travels  of  Major  Denham ;  excepting  that 
we  civilized  Christians  had  purchased  and  made  slaves 
of  a  considerable  number  of  persons  belonging  to  them, 
and  that  these  persons  thus  kidnapped  and  reduced  to 
slavery,  appeared  to  us  who  did  not  understand  their 
languages,  and  could  not  of  course  converse  with  them, 
as  a  degraded  and  stupid  race  of  men.  incapable  of 


writing  epic  poems,  commanding  armies,  enlarging  the 
limits  of  science,  or  superintending  the  government  of  a 
country.  It  is  needless  to  add,  that  this  reasoning 
proved  the  stupidity  and  degradation  of  those  who 
thought  it  satisfactory,  and  not  of  the  Africans.  Major 
Denhain  and  his  enterprising  companions  have  finally 
given  us  a  glimpse  of  a  part  of  the  interior  of  this  great 
continent.  What  new  discoveries  may  be  made  in  the 
immense  region,  that  stretches  from  the  lake  Chad  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  which  includes  the  ancient 
Ethiopia,  once  the  most  civilized  part  of  Africa,  we 
shall  see  hereafter.  If  it  shall  appear,  as  it  probably 
will,  that  none  of  the  black  nations  are  now  on  a  level 
with  the  civilization  of  Europe,  the  fact  will  of  course 
prove  nothing  against  their  ancient  attainments,  or  natu 
ral  capacity  for  improvement.  In  stating  these  consi 
derations  in  favour  of  what  seems  to  be  a  just  and  hu 
mane  view  of  this  question,  I  would  not  be  understood 
to  intimate  the  opinion  that  the  blacks  are  destined  to 
recover,  in  America,  the  moral  or  political  superiority 
over  the  whites,  which  they  once  maintained  in  the  old 
world,  or  even  to  rival  them  in  the  arts  of  life.  Their 
relative  position  is  too  unfavourable.  The  most  that  can 
reasonably  be  expected  of  them  is,  that  when  thrown  by 
circumstances  into  the  foym  of  independent  nations, 
they  will  show  themselves  capable  of  self  government, 
and  of  profiting  by  the  lessons  and  example  of  their 
neighbours. 

It  has  sometimes  been  thought,  that  the  vicinity  of 
one  or  more  independent  black  states  would  be  dange 
rous  to  the  internal  tranquillity  of  our  country ;  but  the 


222 

experience  of  more  than  twenty  years  in  the  case  of  the 
republic  of  Hayti,  affords  a  practical  refutation  of  this 
opinion.  There  are  even  some  positive  advantages  at 
tending  this  circumstance,  of  no  small  consequence.  A 
flourishing  and  prosperous  community  of  this  descrip 
tion,  would  naturally  attract  from  amongst  us  the  free 
blacks,  who  are  found  in  the  slave- holding  states  to  be 
troublesome  members  of  society,  and  who  would  thus 
obtain  abroad  an  open  and  inviting  field  of  action.  A 
natural  drain  of  this  kind  would  remove  these  persons 
from  our  territory  much  more  rapidly  and  effectually 
than  the  laborious  and  expensive  efforts  of  the  Coloniza 
tion  Society,  which,  however  well  meant,  can  hardly 
produce  any  important  results,  counteracted  as  they  are 
by  all  the  motives  that  ordinarily  affect  the  human  mind. 
The  society  invites  the  free  blacks  to  quit  a  country 
where  they  are  comfortably  situated,  and  emigrate  to 
another,  where  they  are  to  encounter  great  hardships, 
with  no  certain  prospects  for  the  future.  It  is  obvious  that 
this  must  be  from  first  to  last  a  forced  proceeding ;  and 
the  least  difficulty  about  it,  (though  this  is  not  a  small 
one,) is,  that  the  society  is  under  the  necessity  of  defray 
ing  all  the  expenses  of  this  unnatural  emigration.  In  the 
other  case,  the  emigration,  being  voluntary  and  sponta 
neous,  would  of  course  be  executed  at  the  expense  of 
the  emigrants ;  and  being  the  effect  of  powerful  motives 
operating  in  the  ordinary  way,  might  be  expected  to  be 
rapid  and  extensive.  How  far  the  abovementioned  so 
ciety  is  likely  to  accomplish  the  farther  object  of  remov 
ing  the  slave  population  itself  from  our  soil,  is  with  me 
a  still  more  doubtful  question,  than  that  of  its  success  with 


223 

the  free  blacks.  When  we  consider  the  natural  increase 
that  takes  place  among  the  slaves,  amounting  to  not  less 
than  thirty  or  forty  thousand  a  year,  and  that  the  society 
have  not  yet  made  arrangements  for  transporting  annually 
to  Africa  more  than  three  or  four  hundred  persons,  it  is 
easy  at  least  to  see,  that  their  arrangements  must  be  very 
much  extended  before  they  will  even  begin  to  approach 
the  accomplishment  of  their  purpose.  Add  to  this, 
that  a  moderate  and  regular  emigration  has  in  general 
little  or  no  tendency  to  diminish  the  population  of  a 
country,  and  the  case  will  be  found  to  be  still  more  des 
perate.  Finally,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  we 
ought  to  wish  to  remove  from  amongst  us,  if  we  could  do 
it  peaceably  and  easy,  so  large  a  portion  of  the  working 
class.  The  political  condition  of  the  blacks  is  certainly 
far  from  being  what  we  could  wish  it ;  but  such  as  they 
are,  they  are  nevertheless  industrious  and  useful  labour 
ers,  and  the  southern  states  would,  I  apprehend,  suffer 
not  a  little  from  the  loss  of  them.  The  expulsion  of  the 
Moors  from  Spain,  and  of  the  Protestants  from  France, 
for  reasons  not  unlike  those  which  are  now  urged  for  the 
removal  of  the  blacks,  have  been  commonly  considered 
as  among  the  most  impolitic  measures  that  ever  were 
adopted,  and  a  similar  result  obtained  by  a  special  ope 
ration  ad  hoc  on  the  minds  of  the  blacks,  would  be  just 
as  impolitic,  though  somewhat  less  violent  and  odious. 
It  is  needless,  however,  to  argue  against  the  policy  of  a 
scheme,  of  which  the  accomplishment  is  obviously  and 
physically  impossible.  Our  duty,  as  respects  the  blacks, 
appears  to  be  in  the  first  place,  to  make  them  as  happy 


224 

as  we  can  in  Iheir  present  condition,  and  then  to  employ 
such  means  as  may  be  most  expedient  for  raising  them 
by  a  slow  and  gradual  process  to  a  higher  one.  Of  these 
means,  one  of  the  most  important  is  to  discourage  in 
every  possible  way,  the  idea  that  any  thing  can  be 
effected  immediately  and  at  once ;  and  the  Colonization 
Society,  however  respectable  from  the  high  character 
of  its  members  and  the  purity  of  their  intentions,  pro 
duces  thus  far  a  great  positive  evil,  inasmuch  as  it  keeps 
up  in  the  public  mind  an  impression,  that  the  situation 
of  the  slaves  can  be  violently  and  suddenly  altered  for 
the  better,  by  this  expedient  of  emigration.  This  opi 
nion  engenders  a  morbid  and  mistaken  sentiment  in  re 
gard  to  the  whole  subject.  Mr.  King's  proposition  in 
the  senate  is  liable  to  the  same  objection.  In  this  as  in 
every  other  project  for  political  improvement,  we  must 
assume  and  build  upon  the  existing  state  of  things.  Im 
prove  the  character  of  the  blacks,  and  emancipation  will 
come  in  due  time  without  an  effort ;  whereas,  by  a  pre 
mature  zeal  for  formal  emancipation,  you  destroy  the 
possibility  of  improvement,  and  thereby  defeat  your  own 
object.  The  society  may  perhaps  effect  some  good  by 
founding  a  colony  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  although  even 
in  this  particular  its  efforts  are  liable  to  the  same  objec 
tion,  which  is  made  habitually  with  so  much  justice  to 
those  of  our  missionary  institutions,  that  they  employ 
upon  a  distant  and  uncertain  object,  a  part  of  the  time, 
funds,  and  good  will  of  the  public,  for  the  whole  of 
which  there  is  ample  occupation  at  home.  While, 
therefore,  we  express  our  sincere  admiration  of  the 


225 

honest  zeal  and  generous  philanthropy  of  the  members 
of  this  body,  we  may  be  allowed  to  wish  that  these  most 
estimable  qualities  may  receive  a  different  direction, 
and  be  devoted  to  some  of  the  numerous  objects  of  great 
and  undoubted  utility,  which  our  country  offers  in  such 
abundance. 


226 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Foreign  Policy  of  the  two  Jlmericas. 

IN  the  first  chapter  of  this  essay,  I  described  in  a 
summary  way  the  position  of  the  American  continent  in 
the  general  political  system  of  Christendom,  and  repre 
sented  this  system  as  consisting  of  three  great  divisions, 
the  continent  of  Europe  with  its  dependencies,  the  Bri 
tish  empire,  and  our  western  hemisphere.  I  remarked 
that  each  of  these  divisions  was  organized  and  held  to 
gether  by  a  distinct  political  principle ;  that  this  prin 
ciple  was  on  the  continent  of  Europe  that  of  arbitrary 
government  or  legitimacy,  in  America  that  of  popular 
government  or  liberty,  and  that  the  British  empire, 
standing  politically  as  well  as  geographically  at  a  middle 
point  between  the  two  continents,  was  to  a  certain  extent 
under  the  influence  of  both  these  principles,  but  that 
the  present  leaning,  both  of  the  government  and  the 
people,  was  in  favour  of  liberty.  I  also  stated  very 
briefly,  the  manner  in  which  the  internal  policy  of  the 
several  sections  of  the  system  was  affected  by  the  opera 
tion  of  the  principles,  that  respectively  prevail  in  each; 
and  remarked,  that  the  effect  of  arbitrary  government 
on  the  continent  of  Europe,  was  to  discourage  the  in 
dustry  of  the  people,  and  to  produce  a  sort  of  torpor  and 
stagnation  in  the  body  politic  ;  that  the  opposite  prin- 


227 

ciple,  which  governs  with  us,  was  also  attended  with  an 
opposite  effect,  and  led  to  a  universal  activity  and  con 
sequent  prosperity  throughout  the  country ;  and  finally 
that  England,  as  might  be  expected  from  her  situation, 
enjoyed  some  of  the  advantages  of  the  liberal  principle, 
and  experienced  some  of  the  inconveniences  of  the  arbi 
trary  one ;  and  was  also  exposed,  more  than  either  of  the 
others,  to  the  peculiar  evil  of  a  constant  and  standing 
collision  of  opposite  parties.  I  shall  now  proceed  to 
make  a  few  remarks,  in  the  brief  and  cursory  manner 
that  suits  the  plan  of  the  present  essay,  upon  the  mutual 
relations  of  these  great  divisions  of  the  political  system, 
and  more  immediately  upon  the  policy  of  our  section  of 
it  as  respects  the  others.  The  same  principles  which 
constitute  these  divisions,  and  determine  in  a  great  de 
gree  their  internal  situation,  will  also  be  found  to  exer 
cise  a  strong  influence  upon  the  character  of  the  relations 
that  exist  between  them.  I  shall  first  inquire  what  these 
relations  are,  as  they  actually  exist  at  present,  and  then 
consider  the  causes  that  have  produced  them,  and  the 
modifications  they  may  probably  undergo  in  future. 

The  existing  relation  between  the  continent  of  Ame 
rica  and  that  of  Europe,  (considering  the  latter  as  repre 
sented  by  the  holy  alliance,)  is  that  of  hostility  actual  in 
some  parts  and  only  virtual  in  others,  but  real  and  effec 
tive  in  all.  Between  the  kingdom  of  Spain  and  the  Spa 
nish  American  nations,  formerly  her  colonies,  there  has 
long  been  and  is  likely  to  be  for  a  length  of  time  to  come, 
a  state  of  declared  and  open  war ;  and  although  all  the  fo 
reign  powers,  European  and  American,  have  professed 
and  in  fact  observed  a  fair  neutrality  between  the  bellige- 


228 

rent  parties,  as  regards  any  immediate  participation  in  the 
contest,  they  have  all  exhibited,  as  far  as  they  could  con 
sistently  with  such  a  position,  their  sentiments  in  regard 
to  the  points  at  issue,  and  have  all  attached  themselves  as 
it  were,  by  community  of  principle  and  sympathy  of  feel 
ing,  to  one  or  the  other  cause.  This  war  forms,  for  the 
time  being,  the  great  question  in  general  politics,  and 
the  inclination  manifested  by  the  different  powers,  in 
regard  to  it,  determines  their  relations  to  each  other 
and  their  position  in  the  common  political  system.  The 
United  States  (the  only  American  nation  not  actually 
engaged  in  the  war)  evinced,  by  their  early  recognition 
of  the  independence  of  the  Spanish  American  states,  a 
disposition  to  take  a  favourable  view  of  their  principles 
and  policy.  This  disposition  was  indeed  openly  pro 
fessed  in  the  declaration  of  President  Monroe,  that  he 
should  consider  the  interference  of  any  other  govern 
ment  in  favour  of  Spain  as  an  act  unfriendly  to  us.  The 
continental  powers  of  Europe,  on  the  other  hand,  have 
exhibited  and  continue  to  exhibit,  as  far  as  they  can  do 
it,  consistently  with  the  observation  of  a  formal  neutral 
ity,  a  strong  sympathy  with  the  other  party.  Their 
advice,  encouragement,  and  flattering  prognostics  in  re 
gard  to  the  future,  have  no  doubt  done  much  to  induce 
Spain  to  continue  the  war;  and  they  would  probably 
have  assisted  her  with  their  military  and  naval  forces, 
or  in  other  words  have  engaged  in  the  contest,  on  her 
side,  had  they  not  been  aware,  that,  in  that  case,  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  would  have  taken  part 
actively  with  the  Americans.  Even  France,  the  only 
great  continental  power  which  pretends  to  a  position 


229 

partially  independent  of  the  alliance,  and  which  has 
appeared  in  fact  to  exhibit,  on  this  question,  occasional 
symptoms  of  a  divergent  policy,  has  nevertheless  in  the 
main  pursued  the  same  line  of  conduct.  The  present 
ministers  are  somewhat  irresolute,  and  if  left  entirely  to 
themselves,  would  perhaps  adopt  another  course ;  but 
the  violent  section  of  the  royalists  professes,  without 
wavering,  the  faith  of  the  holy  alliance  upon  this  sub 
ject,  and  completely  neutralizes  the  better  spirit  of  the 
cabinet.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  whole  continent 
of  America  is  enlisted  either  actively  or  virtually,  on 
the  side  of  the  Spanish  American  states,  in  this  momen 
tous  struggle,  and  in  the  same  way  the  whole  continent 
of  Europe  on  the  side  of  Spain.  The  existing  relation 
between  the  two  continents,  is,  therefore,  as  I  stated 
above,  that  of  real  and  effective  hostility. 

It  is  evident  that  a  contest  of  this  prodigious  magni 
tude,  involving  so  many  different  nations  and  such  im 
mense  interests,  extending  over  so  vast  a  theatre,  shak 
ing  the  Christian  world,  as  it  were,  from  Kamschatka  to 
Cape  Horn,  and  determining  for  a  time  the  political 
situation  of  all  its  members,  cannot  well  be  owing  to 
merely  accidental  and  transitory  circumstances  of  trifling 
moment,  but  must  be  the  result  of  causes  certainly  pow 
erful,  and  probably  of  permanent  and  essential  interest. 
And  we  find  in  fact,  upon  examining  the  nature  of  these 
causes,  that  they  resolve  themselves  (as  was  justly 
remarked  by  President  Monroe,  in  the  message  above 
quoted)  into  the  opposition  that  exists  between  the 
principles  of  government,  that  respectively  prevail  in 
the  two  great  divisions  of  the  Christian  system,  and 


230 

have  been  already  so  often  alluded  to  in  the  present 
work.  The  Spanish  Americans  are  contending  for  in 
dependence  and  liberty,  and  the  United  States  sympa 
thize  with  them,  because  they  have  not  long  since  pas 
sed  through  a  similar  struggle,  by  means  of  which  they 
acquired  and  are  now  enjoying  those  great  blessings. 
The  continental  powers  of  Europe  sympathize  with 
Spain,  because  their  governments  are  all  organized  on 
arbitrary  principles,  and  because  they  are  naturally  led, 
by  this  state  of  things,  to  disapprove  the  extension  of 
liberal  principles  in  any  part  of  the  world,  and  to  appre 
hend  the  reaction  of  such  extension  upon  their  own  sub 
jects  at  home.  In  taking  these  different  views  of  the 
subject,  the  two  parties  are  no  doubt  equally  honest, 
and  both  express  their  respective  sentiments  without 
disguise  or  scruple.  But  as  there  is  now  hardly  an  indi 
vidual  in  the  United  States,  who  entertains  on  this  sub 
ject  the  opinions  of  the  holy  alliance,  the  forms  in  which 
they  are  commonly  advanced  may  not  perhaps  be  fami 
liar  to  the  American  public,  and  a  simple  statement  of 
this,  in  the  language  of  a  believer,  while  it  gives  a  more 
distinct  notion  of  this  mysterious  creed,  may  possess  in 
some  degree  the  merit  of  novelty.  The  following  article 
upon  the  subject  is  extracted  from  one  of  the  leading 
ultra  newspapers  of  Paris,  which  happened  to  fall  into 
my  hands  at  the  moment  of  writing  these  pages.  While 
it  explains  the  opinions  of  the  holy  alliance  on  this  sub 
ject,  it  may  also  serve  to  show  how  fully  they  are  em 
braced  by  the  fanatical  party  in  France. 

"  It  has  been  remarked  in  France,"  says  a  writer  in 
the  Quotidienne,  "  that  the  people  have  sent  in  their 


231 

resignation ;  and  it  may  now,  perhaps,  be  added  with 
propriety,  that  the  liberal  opposition  have  become  emi 
grants.  Tired  of  attacking  in  vain  the  thrones  of  Eu 
rope,  they  have  set  sail  for  the  other  hemisphere ;  where 
they  are  now  contesting  with  the  descendants  of  the 
commanders  of  Cortes  and  Pizarro,  the  claims  of  the 
latter  to  the  territory  conquered  by  their  ancestors. 
From  the  summit  of  the  Andes,  liberalism  is  now  pro 
claiming  the  rights  of  man  and  the  sovereignty  of  the 
people,  and  having  established  republican  governments 
in  certain  half  savage  communities,  presents  the  work 
of  her  hands  to  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world,  as 
the  perfection  of  wisdom. 

"  The  same  arguments  have  been  urged  in  defence 
of  the  insurgents  of  America,  which  had  previously 
been  employed  to  justify  the  revolutionists  of  Europe. 
It  was  not,  say  their  advocates,  the  ambition  and  turbu 
lence  of  a  few  persons,  but  the  irresistible  force  of  cir 
cumstances,  which  occasioned  these  sanguinary  strug 
gles.  A  strange  mode  of  reasoning  this,  no  doubt,  and 
one  which,  if  admitted,  would  justify  as  well  every 
species  of  excess.  The  colonies  have  also  been  com 
pared  to  individual  men,  who  are  subject  in  their  infancy 
to  many  restrictions,  from  which  at  a  riper  age  they  are 
exempt.  It  would  be  easy  to  show  that  this  argument 
is  also  wholly  inconclusive,  and  that  what  is  true  of  the 
individual  is  far  from  being  in  every  case  true  of  the 
species.  But  waving  this  objection,  we  would  willingly 
learn  what  these  communities,  infant  or  mature,  have 
gained  by  changing  their  government,  and  whether 
they  have  not.  on  the  contrary,  lost  every  thing,  by 


232 
tailing  under  the  authority  of  a  few  aspiring  lead 


ers." 


"  It  will  perhaps  be  urged,  that  Spain  had  no  other 
claim  to  America  but  the  right  of  conquest,  which  now 
belongs  to  the  insurgents ;  and  this  mode  of  treating  the 
question  would  not  be  wholly  destitute  of  plausibility, 
if  the  present  possessors  of  the  country  were  the  native 
Americans,  rising  in  rebellion  against  their  old  conquer- 
ors.  But  we  all  know,  that  instead  of  this  being  the 
case,  the  native  Americans  have  taken  no  part  in  the 
insurrection,  and  that  they  are  now  fatigued  with  the 
war,  and  anxious  for  the  return  of  the  mild  and  peaceful 
government  of  Spain.  Bolivar,  Santander,  Sucre,  Ber- 
mudez,  Montilla,  Paez,  and  the  rest  of  the  republican 
chiefs,  are  either  Spaniards  or  of  Spanish  descent.  A 
singular  sort  of  patriots  these,  by  the  bye,  who  renounce 
their  native  land  and  the  blood  that  flows  in  their  veins. 
But  as  respects  the  right  of  Spain  to  America,  it  does 
not  here  come  in  question,  because,  as  we  have  said,  it 
is  not  the  natives  who  make  the  war.  We  are  fully 
satisfied  that  they  are  all  anxious  for  the  restoration  of 
the  paternal  government  of  the  Viceroys,  which  they 
found  much  preferable  to  that  of  the  modern  dictators. 
It  is  natural  in  fact,  that  the  Americans  should  be  opposed 
to  the  new  systems,  considering  the  distracted  situation 
in  which  they  have  placed  the  country.  The  cities  have 
lost  their  splendour,  the  precious  metals  are  monopo 
lized  by  foreigners ;  European  vessels  rarely  approach 
these  shores,  now  infested  by  pirates,  and  where  their 
cargoes  are  in  danger;  the  port  of  Acapulco,  formerly 
so  much  frequented,  is  now  abandoned  by  all.  except 


233 

perhaps  a  few  Englishmen.  The  population  of  Mexico, 
Carthagena,  Caraceas,  and  Lima,  is  reduced  a  third ; 
and  such  is  the  poverty  of  the  new  governments,  that 
Colombia,  the  famous  mother  republic,  has  no  means  of 
paying  the  interest  on  her  debt. 

"  It  is  thought  by  some  that  the  independence  of  the 
Spanish  colonies  would  be  favourable  to  the  maritime 
powers  of  Europe,  inasmuch  as  it  would  open  a  new 
market  for  their  products.  But  the  experience  of  Eng 
land  proves  the  incorrectness  of  this  opinion,  however 
certain  it  may  appear  at  first  view.  The  British  were 
the  first  to  recognize  the  new  republics,  entered  into 
contracts  with  them  for  exploring  the  mines,  and  obtain 
ed  the  concession  of  commercial  privileges  of  great  value. 
But  notwithstanding  these  advantages,  their  commerce 
has  been  ruined  in  America,  and  it  would  not  be  singu 
lar,  if  they  should  now  declare  war  against  Bolivar. 
There  is  little  doubt  in  fact  t hat  they  excited  the  insur 
rection  of  Gen.  Paez,  in  order  to  chastise  the  govern 
ment  of  Santa  Fe  for  concluding  a  treaty  of  commerce 
with  the  United  States.  Be  that,  however,  as  it  may, 
England  has  evidently  ruined  instead  of  enriching  her 
self,  by  monopolizing  the  commerce  of  Spanish  Ame 
rica. 

"  It  is  added,  that  the  Spanish  American  colonies  are 
twenty  times  as  extensive,  in  point  of  territory,  as  the 
mother  country,  and  that  their  population  is  greater. 
If  this  be  an  objection,  it  might  be  urged  with  still  more 
force  against  Great  Britain,  since  the  whole  number  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  three  kingdoms  does  not  exceed 
twenty  millions,  and  the  colonies  in  India  contain  more 

30 


234: 

than  a  hundred.  But  it  would  be  idle  to  attempt  to  rea 
son  with  the  liberalists  on  the  subject  of  political  eco 
nomy.  We  all  know  that  they  are  ready  to  sacrifice 
every  thing  to  their  system,  even  the  commercial  pros 
perity  of  the  nation,  which  they  affect  to  admire  so  much, 
Such  is  their  stupid  blindness,  that  they  cannot  foresee 
that  their  doctrines  tend  directly  to  give  to  England  a 
monopoly  of  the  commerce  of  the  world.  They  are  sworn 
enemies  to  the  industry  of  France,  because  they  will 
make  no  compromise  with  what  they  call  their  princi 
ples  ;  but  like  idolatrous  savages  would  immolate  human 
victims,  if  necessary,  at  the  foot  of  the  statue  of  liberty. 
It  is  true  that  their  doctrines  have  ceased  to  be  popular, 
but  unhappily  their  threats  and  their  sophistry  are  still 
not  without  some  influence  on  the  cabinets  of  Europe  ; 
which  are  not  yet  satisfied  that  the  revolution,  although 
it  has  taken  refuge  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jltlantic,  is 
a  whit  less  dangerous  to  the  old  world,  than  if  it  had 
remained  there.  Fortunately  the  American  nations  are 
beginning  to  be  weary  of  the  anarchy  which  has  been 
given  them  in  exchange,  and  are  becoming  impatient  of 
the  yoke  of  the  revolutionary  chiefs.  Colombia,  of 
whose  power  and  perseverance  we  have  heard  so  much, 
is  on  the  eve  of  civil  war,  and  her  coasts  are  menaced  by 
a  squadron  fitted  out  from  that  very  island  of  Cuba,  so 
lately  the  destined  object  of  invasion.  Peru,  which  was 
lost  by  treason,  is  shaking  oif  the  yoke  5  at  least  it  is  re 
ported  in  Europe,  that  Ferdinand  VII.  was  declared  in 
that  viceroyalty,  immediately  after  the  departure  of 
Bolivar  for  Panama ;  and  this  commander,  instead  of 
presiding  at  the  congress,  will  be  obliged  to  carry  on  the 


235 

war  in  the  province  of  Caraccas,  which  detests  his  au 
thority,  and  which  will  probably  very  soon  return  to  the 
government  of  the  lawful  sovereign. 

"  Thus  there  is  a  visible  tendency  in  the  communities 
of  both  the  old  and  new  worlds  to  work  out  their  own 
salvation  by  themselves.  It  has  perhaps  been  decreed 
by  Providence,  that  the  cause  of  legitimacy  should  ne 
ver  triumph,  by  its  own  power ;  that  revolution  should 
labour  for  counter-revolution;  rebellion  be  the  principal 
support  of  lawful  authority ;  and  that  these  are  the 
appropriate  means  ordained  by  the  Supreme  Being  for 
the  welfare  of  kings  and  nations ! !?? 

This  will  be  found,  I  think,  by  the  American  public, 
rather  an  amusing  specimen  of  legitimate  politics.  That 
the  British  government  excited  the  insurrection  of  Paez, 
and  will  probably  declare  war  against  Bolivar ;  that  the 
opening  of  new  markets  is  not  an  encouragement  to  in 
dustry,  and  that  rebellion  is  the  natural  support  of  law 
ful  authority,  are  propositions,  which  are  no  doubt 
received  as  articles  of  faith  by  the  adherents  of  the  holy 
alliance,  for  they  are  certainly  not  much  countenanced 
by  merely  human  reason.  Remark,  too,  the  admirable 
consistency  of  the  two  first  sentences  in  the  last  para 
graph,  and  at  the  same  time  the  highly  flattering  idea 
which  they  hold  up  of  what  is  here  called  legitimacy. 
There  is,  it  seems,  a  visible  tendency  in  the  communi 
ties  of  the  old  and  new  world  to  work  out  their  own 
salvation.  Good ;  but  what  next  ?  It  has  been  decreed 
by  Providence,  that  legitimacy  is  never  to  triumph  by 
its  own  power ;  or  in  other  words,  is  never  to  work  out 
its  own  salvation.  The  natural,  or  as  it  is  here  described 


236 

providential  action  of  communities,  and  that  of  legiti 
macy,  are,  therefore,  essentially  different;  and  as  the 
former  is  the  only  correct  description  that  can  be  given 
of  law  and  government,  it  follows  that  legitimacy  is  here 
represented  as  opposed  to  law,  that  is,  is  illegitimate. 
The  word,  as  here  misused,  seems  to  mean  a  few  reign 
ing  families.  But  what  is  this  natural  action  which  com 
munities  exercise,  and  which  these  supposed  legitimates 
cannot  perform?  That  of  working  out  their  own  salva 
tion.  The  communities  of  the  old  and  new  world  are, 
therefore,  lusty  fellows,  that  know  how  to  help  them 
selves,  while  legitimacy  is  an  overgrown  changeling, 
who  must  have  his  food  put  into  his  mouth.  Legitimacy 
has  certainly  great  reason  to  be  obliged  to  the  Quoti- 
dienne  for  the  compliment.  Finally,  what  is  this  salva 
tion  which  the  communities  are  to  work  out  ?  It  consists 
in  divesting  themselves  of  all  political  power,  and  en 
trusting  it  to  this  very  helpless  legitimacy,  who  is  inca 
pable,  by  the  supposition,  of  exercising  it.  Such  is  the 
sublime  philosophy  of  the  modern  European  doctors,  in 
the  science  of  government.  How  poor  to  this  the  the 
ory  of  liberty !  how  flat  and  unprofitable  the  reveries 
of  the  Lockes,  the  Burkes,  the  Montesquieus,  and  the 
Ciceros ! 

The  leading  French  ministerial  paper,  which,  like 
the  ministry  it  represents,  has  occasionally  vacillated  in 
regard  to  the  American  question,  and  has  published 
some  articles  favourable  to  the  independence  of  the  new 
states,  contained,  about  the  same  time  when  the  above 
extract  appeared  in  the  Quotidienne,  a  short  paragraph 
which  may  also  be  cited  as  a  sort  of  curiosity.  It  is 


237 

introduced,  by  a  pretty  indirection,  with  some  remarks 
upon  the  weather  and  the  season. 

"The  heat  and  dryness  of  the  season,"  says  the  Etoile, 
"  have  excited  apprehensions  respecting  the  harvest, 
and  at  all  events,  the  situation  of  England  will  be  very 
critical  during  the  next  winter.  It  is  easy  to  foresee  that 
the  severity  of  the  weather  will  bring  on  troubles  in  the 
manufacturing  districts,  for  it  must  necessarily  be  a  long 
time  before  the  industry  of  that  country  shall  have  reco 
vered  from  the  late  shock.  The  radicals  are  as  busy  as 
ever,  in  reforming  the  government,  and  they  have  now 
the  advantage,  which  they  did  not  enjoy  before,  of  find 
ing  a  great  number  of  popular  harangues  ready  made 
to  their  hands,  by  the  ministry,  and  especially  Mr.  Can 
ning.  They  have  but  to  alter  a  few  names  and  phrases, 
such  as  Colombia  or  Spain  into  England,  Cortes  into 
radical  provisional  government,  and  Bolivar  into  Hunt, 
and  these  speeches  will  suit  their  meridian  to  a  hair. 
Then  they  have  only  to  found  in  some  corner  of  Lanca 
shire,  a  snug  little  government  de  facto,  which  Mr. 
Canning  has  instructed  them  to  distinguish,  with  all  the 
necessary  precision,  from  one  de  jure,  and  they  may- 
then  make  war  without  scruple,  and  borrow  money  at 
pleasure  from  their  friends  on  the  continent,  taking  care 
of  course,  like  their  comrades  in  America,  never  to  pay 
their  debts." 

What  profound  policy,  and  what  fine  pleasantry  to 
season  it!  How  ridiculous  the  position  of  poor  Mr. Can 
ning,  detected  by  the  Quotidienne  in  stirring  up  the 
insurrection  of  Paez,  and  declaring  war  (unbeknown  ta 
the  public)  against  Bolivar,  and  now  laughed  at  by  the 


238 

Etoile,  for  playing  into  the  hands  of  the  radicals,  and, 
notwithstanding  his  intrigue  with  Paez,  making  speeches 
in  favour  of  this  same  Bolivar  and  the  South  American 
cause!  How  just  the  triumph  of  these  more  than  Ma- 
chiavelian  wits  over  unhappy  England,  cursed  with  a 
new  market  for  her  products  of  more  than  sixteen  mil 
lion  souls,  and  crushed  to  the  earth  by  the  wealth  of  the 
American  mines !  It  must  be  owned  that  the  logic  and 
the  humour  of  these  writers  are  quite  upon  a  par.  It 
has  hitherto  been  held,  that  those  should  laugh  who  win, 
and  on  this  principle,  the  continental  graciosos  should 
have  waited  till  they  had  beaten  the  other  party,  before 
they  began  to  make  merry  at  his  expense.  But  they 
rather  choose  to  imitate  the  non-combatant  in  Moliere, 
who  returned  good  reasons  for  hard  knocks.  //  me 
donna  quelques  coups  de  baton,  maisje  lui  dis  bien  son 
fait. 

To  treat  this  matter  a  little  more  seriously,  the  two 
articles  quoted  above,  which  express  the  sentiments  of 
the  two  sections  of  the  royalist  party  in  France,  the  only 
country  where  there  has  been  any  prospect  of  the  adop 
tion  of  a  distinct  policy  in  regard  to  America,  prove 
how  completely  the  whole  continent  sympathizes  with 
Spain.  When  I  say  that  these  articles  express  the  sen 
timents  and  indicate  the  policy  of  the  continent,  I  do  not 
of  course  mean  to  be  understood,  that  all  the  statesmen 
of  the  holy  alliance  would  countenance,  in  all  its  details, 
the  wretched  sophistry  of  these  paragraphs,  which  are, 
however,  extracted  from  the  most  accredited  journals. 
There  are  no  doubt  wiser  heads  in  the  committee  at 
Paris  and  the  cabinets  of  Petersburgh,  Berlin,  and  Vi- 


239 

enna,  than  these  editors,  although  the  latter  seem  to 
think  almost  as  meanly  of  the  cabinets  of  Europe  as 
they  do  of  the  patriots  of  America.  The  system  of  the 
allies,  as  understood  and  explained  by  their  most  judi 
cious  partisans,  reposes  on  a  single  principle,  which  is 
also  briefly  stated  in  one  of  the  above  extracts.  The 
cabinets  of  Europe,  says  the  Quotidienne,  are  not  yet 
satisfied,  that  the  revolution,  although  it  has  taken  re 
fuge  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  is  a  whit  less 
dangerous  to  the  old  world,  than  if  it  had  remained 
there.  This  is  a  rhetorical  manner  of  saying  that  the 
revolution  is  not  less  dangerous  now  than  it  was  before, 
and  that  the  cabinets  have  not  done  what,  in  the  opinion 
of  this  writer,  they  should  have  done  upon  this  suppo 
sition.  This  principle,  therefore,  of  the  supposed  dan 
ger  to  which  the  monarchies  of  Europe  are  exposed,  in 
consequence  of  the  success  of  so  many  revolutions,  and 
the  establishment  of  so  many  republics  in  the  new  world, 
is,  at  present,  the  basis  of  the  continental  system,  in  re 
gard  to  our  continent.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  exa 
mine  very  briefly,  how  far  their  apprehensions  are  well 
founded,  and  what  would  be  the  best  measures  which 
the  continental  powers  could  adopt,  in  order  to  escape 
from  the  danger,  such  as  it  is. 

If  several  neighbouring  nations,  being  in  close  com 
munication  with  each  other,  were  constituted  and  go 
verned  nearly  in  the  same  manner ;  and  if  certain  abuses, 
common  to  them  all,  had  been  remedied  in  one  by  a  re 
currence  to  the  desperate  expedient  of  a  revolution,  it 
is  easy  to  conceive,  that  the  governments  of  the  rest 
would  be  alarmed,  and  not  without  reason.  Then  would 


240 

there  be  a  real  danger,  on  the  common  principle,  that 
similar  causes  naturally  produce  similar  effects,  and  that 
successful  examples  are  the  most  powerful  stimulants 
that  can  be  employed,  for  bringing  moral  causes  into 
action.  In  any  other  case  the  danger  would  be  wholly 
imaginary.  To  suppose  that  the  quiet  of  the  established 
governments  of  Europe  is  threatened  by  the  occurrence 
in  a  remote  quarter  of  the  globe,  of  revolutions  in  the 
state  of  communities  differently  situated,  resulting  from 
causes  which  could  not  by  possibility  exist  in  the  old 
world,  would  argue  a  very  keen  sensibility  on  the  sub 
ject  of  revolution  in  general,  and  perhaps  a  conscious 
ness  that  there  was  something  wrong  at  home.  The  di 
rect  and  immediate  object  of  all  the  revolutions  that  have 
taken  place  in  America,  is  independence  of  Europe. 
What  has  this  to  do  with  the  reform  of  any  abuses  that 
may  be  found  or  imagined  in  the  governments  of  that 
part  of  Christendom  ?  That  Russia,  for  example,  should 
be  alarmed  about  her  own  tranquillity,  because  the  co 
lonies  of  Spain  have  shaken  off  the  yoke,  is  about  as 
reasonable  as  it  would  be  for  the  United  States  to  feel 
uneasy,  because  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  has  suppressed 
the  Janissaries,  and  introduced  the  obnoxious  nizam- 
jedid,  or  to  consider  that  their  interest  was  involved  in 
the  question,  whether  the  inquisition  shall  or  shall  not 
be  revived  in  Spain.  Where  the  situation  of  two 
countries  is  wholly  dissimilar,  when  there  is  no  pretext 
that  the  abuses  reformed  in  one  by  revolution  exist  in 
the  other,  it  is  evident,  that  there  is  no  reasonable 
ground  for  apprehension ;  and  this  is  precisely  the  case 
with  the  continental  monarchies  of  Europe  and  the  new 


241 

governments  of  America.  The  establishment  of  them 
is  no  doubt  the  result  of  revolution,  but  it  is  of  such  a 
revolution  as  cannot  possibly  occur  in  the  monarchies 
of  Europe ;  for  the  plain  and  simple  reason,  that  they 
are  not  colonies  but  independent  nations.  The  only 
European  nations,  which  might  reasonably  be  expected 
to  feel  any  alarm  upon  the  subject,  are  those  which  pos 
sess  colonies.  These  might  very  fairly  consider  as  dan 
gerous,  the  example  of  other  colonies  throwing  off  their 
allegiance  to  the  mother  country.  It  so  happens,  how 
ever,  by  a  rather  singular  coincidence,  that  the  only 
two  European  nations,  now  possessing  colonies  of  any 
importance,  viz.  England  and  Holland,  are  precisely 
those  which  have  exhibited  the  least  apprehension 
upon  this  occasion,  and  have  taken  the  lead  in  acknow 
ledging  the  independence  of  the  Spanish  American 
states. 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  these  new  governments 
have  all  adopted  republican  institutions,  and  that  the 
existence  of  so  many  republics,  even  in  a  distant  quar 
ter  of  the  globe,  threatens  the  stability  of  the  monar 
chies  of  Europe.  This  is  in  fact  the  only  account,  at 
all  consistent  with  common  sense,  that  can  be  given  of 
the  supposed  danger ;  but  even  this  will  not  be  found  in 
reality  much  more  plausible  than  the  other.  The  conti 
nental  governments  of  Europe  either  are  or  are  not  suited 
to  the  condition  of  the  societies  they  respectively  repre 
sent.  If  they  be,  they  have  all  the  security  against  revolu 
tion  that  any  government  can  possess,  and  it  would  show  a 
very  great  want  of  political  sagacity,  and  a  very  pusil 
lanimous  temper,  to  apprehend  any  thing  from  the  ex- 

31 


242 

istence  of  other  governments,  established  in  other  com 
munities,  differently  situated,  and  a  thousand  leagues  off. 
If  they  be  not,  if  they  in  fact  require  reform,  then  they 
are  no  doubt  in  a  critical  position,  and  any  movement, 
that  may  happen  abroad  or  at  home,  is  fraught  with 
peril :  but  the  source  of  the  danger  is  the  existence  of 
the  abuses,  and  not  the  example  of  the  reform  in  another 
country.  It  is,  therefore,  not  less  certain  than  it  is  sin 
gular,  that  if  we  allow  these  governments  the  credit  for 
sagacity  and  worldly  wisdom,  to  which  they  are  per 
haps  fairly  entitled,  and  suppose  them  of  course  not  to 
be  ignorant  of  truths  so  obvious  as  these  I  have  just 
stated,  this  alarm,  which  they  are  all  so  loud  and  eager 
in  professing,  about  the  existence  of  republican  and  li 
beral  constitutions  abroad,  is  neither  more  nor  less  than 
an  open  confession,  that  such  constitutions  would  not 
be  wholly  out  of  place,  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  If 
such  a  person  as  Prince  Metternich,  for  example,  a 
statesman  of  great  experience  and  talent,  really  believes, 
as  we  have  reason  to  think  he  does,  that  the  internal 
peace  of  the  empire  of  Austria  is  endangered  by  the 
existence  of  republican  governments  in  the  United 
States,  and  in  South  America,  it  must  be  because  he 
knows  that  the  government  of  that  empire,  (though  it 
could  not  be  probably  changed  all  at  once  to  one  of  a 
republican  form,)  would  admit  of  great  improvement. 
Thus  the  very  alarm  that  is  now  kept  up,  by  the  con 
tinental  statesmen,  respecting  the  existence  of  revolution 
and  republicanism  abroad,  amounts  to  an  indirect  satire 
on  their  own  policy,  and  a  defence  of  the  very  proceed 
ings  and  principles  they /mean  to  attack. 


243 

Thus  far,  however,  the  danger  is  no  doubt  real,  and 
as  long  as  the  continental  statesmen  neglect  and  refuse 
to  introduce  in  the  empires  they  respectively  govern, 
such  political  improvements  as  the  condition  of  the  peo 
ple  really  requires,  so  long  will  the  introduction  of  such 
improvements,  in  other  countries,  make  it  more  difficult 
for  them  to  sustain  their  present  institutions.  To  this 
extent,  the  hostile  position  in  which  the  continent  of 
Europe  is  disposed  to  place  itself,  towards  the  new 
world,  is,  perhaps,  the  natural  result  of  the  existing 
state  of  things.  The  question  still  remains,  however, 
whether  the  declaration  of  war,  which  the  powers  have 
openly  or  virtually  made  against  the  young  republics  of 
North  and  South  America,  was  for  them  the  true  course. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  their  policy,  in  regard  to 
this  subject,  will  be  found  to  be  nearly  as  questionable 
as  their  principles. 

If  a  wise  statesman  felt  that  the  government  he  was 
called  to  administer,  required  improvement,  and  that 
the  necessary  changes  were  recommended  to  the  people 
by  the  example  of  other  nations,  he  would  no  doubt 
make  it  his  business  to  introduce  them,  as  soon  as  possi 
ble,  and  would  thus  remove  at  once  all  uneasiness  upon 
the  subject.  If  a  government  were  unwise  enough  to 
determine  not  to  take  this  course,  the  next  most  plausi 
ble  one  would  be  to  remove  the  dangerous  example, 
that  is,  to  counteract  by  violence,  the  attempts,  which 
other  nations  might  be  making,  to  improve  their  institu 
tions.  This  latter  policy  is  completely  Machiavelian  in 
its  character ;  it  laughs  at  every  thing  like  natural  law 
and  justice,  but  when  it  can  be  carried  into  effect, 


244 

would  no  doubt,  for  the  moment,  answer  the  purpose. 
We  have  seen  it  in  fact  adopted  with  success,  by  the 
Austrian  government,  in  the  cases  of  Naples  and  Sar 
dinia;  and  by  France  (under  the  instigation  of  the  allies) 
in  that  of  Spain.  But  to  this  reckless  and  unprincipled 
course  of  proceeding,  success  is  essential ;  and  to  fail  in 
attempting  it,  would  make  matters  much -worse  than 
they  were  before.  Here  therefore,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
lies  the  great  political  error  of  the  arbitrary  govern 
ments.  Blinded  as  they  are,  no  doubt,  by  prejudice, 
passion,  and  supposed  interest,  they  can  hardly  be  so 
blind  as  to  imagine,  that  the  continent  of  America  can 
be  brought  back  again,  by  a  coup- de-main,  to  its  an 
cient  dependence  upon  Europe.  Since  the  public  de 
claration  of  England  and  the  United  States,  they  cannot 
but  know  that  this  is  impossible.  But  in  this  case, 
every  thing  depends  upon  the  probability,  or  rather 
certainty,  of  effecting  the  object  by  a  coup-de-main. 
To  engage  with  a  country  in  a  state  of  revolution  in  a 
war,  of  which  the  result  is  doubtful,  and  which  will 
be  necessarily  tedious  and  difficult,  instead  of  diminish 
ing  the  danger,  only  renders  it  ten  times  greater  and 
more  pressing.  It  answered  very  well  for  the  Austrian 
government  to  make  war  upon  Naples  and  Sardinia, 
for  changing  their  constitutions,  because  they  had  a 
moral  certainty  that  they  could,  in  each  case,  effect  a 
counter-revolution  in  a  single  campaign.  But  does 
Prince  Metternich,  or  Count  Nesselrode,  or  any  of 
their  counsellors,  believe  that  the  same  result  can  be 
obtained  in  Spanish  America?  Surely  not.  Why  then 
identify  themselves  with  the  cause  of  Spain,  and  by  en- 


245 

couraging  her  to  continue  the  contest,  keep  the  atten 
tion  of  the  world  at  large,  and  of  their  own  subjects  in 
particular,  continually  alive  to  the  affairs  of  our  west 
ern  continent?  While  the  war  goes  on  in  America; 
while  it  forms  the  pivot,  upon  which  the  general  poli 
tics  of  Christendom  are  made  to  turn;  while  the  marches, 
battles  by  sea  and  land,  military  and  political  mavceu- 
vres,  revolutions,  constitutions,  and  congresses,  which 
successively  grow  out  of  it,  constitute  the  most  interest 
ing  series  of  publications  any  where  occurring,  it  is 
certain  that  all  the  active  and  stirring  spirits  in  Europe 
will  keep  their  eyes  fixed  upon  the  scene.  Is  this  what 
the  continental  statesmen  would  naturally  wish?  If 
they  will  not  remove  the  abuse  in  their  own  govern 
ments,  and  cannot  remove  the  example  of  reform,  the 
only  remaining  course  which  prudence  recommends, 
would  be  to  keep  the  latter  out  of  sight.  Instead  of 
encouraging  Spain  to  persevere  in  the  war,  they  should 
rather  persuade  her  to  finish  it  as  soon  as  possible.  The 
American  republics  would  then  be  quietly  occupied,  in 
the  arrangement  of  their  internal  affairs ;  and  the  spec 
tacle  of  durable  and  constantly  progressive  but  noiseless 
prosperity,  which  we  may  reasonably  hope  they  would 
all  then  present,  would  be  much  less  likely  to  exercise 
a  contagious  influence  on  the  fiery  spirits  of  Europe, 
than  the  brilliant  exhibition  of  political  and  military  en- 
enterprise,  which  we  are  now  witnessing,  and  shall  con 
tinue  to  witness,  till  the  end  of  the  struggle,  should  it 
last  half  a  century.  It  is  the  process  of  revolution,  and 
not  the  quiet  operation  of  republican  governments, 
which  is  likely  to  excite  imitation.  A  hundred  aspir- 


246 

ing  young  men  will  be  wrought  up  into  a  sort  of  pas- 
sion,  by  the  example  of  Bolivar,  who  would  not  even 
think  of  reading  through,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  the 
ablest  state  paper  that  could  be  written.  The  trophies 
of  Miltiades,  as  we  are  told  in  ancient  history,  would 
not  let  Themistocles  sleep  o?  nights ;  but  many  a  true 
patriot  has  found  himself  dozing,  even  in  the  day  time, 
over  long  financial  and  political  reports  and  documents, 
however  important.  And  it  is  not  the  perusal  of  such 
papers,  or  in  general  the  silent  study  of  the  march  of 
established  governments  of  any  form,  that  tends  to  cre 
ate  a  revolutionary  fever  at  home  or  abroad.  To  favour 
rather  than  discourage  the  conclusion  of  the  present  war 
in  America,  would  therefore  have  been  the  true  policy 
of  the  continental  statesmen  of  Europe. 

Their  course,  however,  such  as  it  is,  was  recommended 
by  the  party  feelings  and  habitual  modes  of  thinking, 
which  prevail  among  them,  and  which  are  much  more 
universally  followed  as  motives  to  action,  than  distant 
views  of  general  policy.  It  is  therefore  not  to  be  won 
dered  at,  however  much  it  is  to  be  regretted,  that  they 
should  have  yielded  to  considerations,  which  in  most 
similar  cases  are  apt  to  govern.  It  can  hardly  be  doubt 
ed,  in  fact,  that  they  have  exhibited  what  they  think  a 
high  degree  of  moderation  and  prudence,  in  not  engag 
ing  openly  in  the  war  on  the  side  of  Spain.  There  is 
little  doubt  that  they  would  have  gone  to  this  length, 
immediately  after  the  occupation  of  that  country  by 
France,  had  not  the  successive  public  declaration  of  the 
United  States  and  of  England,  given  them  to  understand 
that  they  would  in  that  case  have  other  enemies  to  con- 


247 

tend  with,  beside  the  new  Spanish  American  states. 
The  message  of  President  Monroe,  in  which  he  signifi 
ed  the  intentions  of  the  United  States,  on  this  subject, 
excited  a  strong  sensation"  throughout  Europe  ;  and  if  it 
did  not  entirely  change  the  determination  of  the  conti 
nental  powers,  induced  them  at  least  not  to  precipitate 
matters,  and  to  proceed  with  great  deliberation,  in  a 
course  of  policy  which  was  likely  to  affect  so  essenti 
ally  the  aspect  of  political  affairs.  Whether  the  know 
ledge  they  had  then  obtained  of  the  views  of  the  United 
States,  would  of  itself  have  ultimately  defeated  their 
projects,  is  perhaps  uncertain;  and  the  issue  probably 
depended  in  a  great  measure  on  the  part  that  should  be 
taken  by  England.  Could  the  continental  powers  have 
persuaded  England  to  make  common  cause  with  them, 
in  a  crusade  against  the  Spanish  American  govern 
ments,  the  apprehension  of  offending  the  United  States 
might  not  perhaps  have  deterred  them  from  engaging 
in  the  enterprise.  They  might  even  at  bottom  have 
felt  a  secret  complacency,  in  the  idea  of  involving  the 
liberal  institutions  of  the  whole  continent  in  one  common 
ruin,  and  might  not  have  realized,  until  they  had  ascer 
tained  by  experience,  the  desperate  character  of  the  at 
tempt.  There  is  even  reason  to  suppose,  that  some  of 
the  continental  statesmen,  endowed  with  rather  more 
zeal  than  discretion,  made  at  this  time  indirect  overtures 
to  the  British  government  to  co-operate  against  South 
America,  and  proposed,  should  the  United  States  make 
themselves  troublesome,  to  assist  in  reducing  them 
again  to  their  old  condition  of  British  colonies.  But 
this  was  a  policy,  which  no  British  statesman  would 


248 

have  dreamed  for  a  moment  of  adopting.  The  expe 
rience  they  had  acquired  during  the  late  three  years" 
war,  had  completely  rectified  their  errors  upon  this  sub 
ject,  and  dispelled  some  lingering  dreams  of  future  con 
quest,  that  perhaps  until  that  period  may  have  flattered 
the  hopes  of  a  few  old  fashioned  tories.  Even  Lord 
Castlereagh  was  much  too  reasonable  for  this ;  but  whe 
ther,  if  he  had  remained  at  the  head  of  affairs,  the  Bri 
tish  ministry  would  have  declared  so  early,  in  a  public 
manner,  against  the  interference  of  the  continent,  and 
have  followed  up  the  declaration  so  promptly  by  a  re 
cognition  of  the  independence  of  the  new  states,  is,  as  I 
have  stated  in  a  former  chapter,  something  more  than 
doubtful.  By  a  sort  of  accident,  that  may  almost  be 
considered  providential,  a  ministerial  revolution  took 
place  just  at  this  critical  moment,  a  moment  when  the 
fortunes  of  the  Christian  world,  for  centuries  to  come> 
depended,  in  a  great  measure,  on  the  decision  of  the 
British  cabinet,  and  this  revolution  was  in  favour  of  the 
cause  of  liberty  and  America.  It  brought  into  power  a 
minister  less  committed  to  the  continental  allies  by  the 
previous  policy  of  the  government,  more  liberal  and  po 
pular  in  his  sentiments,  and  better  fitted,  by  his  inde 
pendence  and  superiority  of  talent,  to  enter  on  a  new 
and  bolder  course  of  action  than  Lord  Castlereagh.  The 
immediate  consequence  was  a  decided  adhesion,  by  the 
British  government,  to  the  cause  of  Spanish  America, 
and  a  participation  in  the  contest,  as  far  as  it  could  pos 
sibly  be  carried,  consistently  with  the  fair  observance  of 
a  formal  neutrality.  This  additional  weight  turned  the 
scale  at  once,  with  the  continental  powers,  against  the 


249 

project  of  open  interference,  which  till  then  they  had 
probably  not  abandoned.  It  ought,  as  I  have  shown 
above,  on  every  consideration  of  regard  for  their  own 
interest  or  for  that  of  Spain,  to  have  induced  them  to 
use  all  their  influence  with  the  latter  power,  in  favour 
of  immediate  peace.  Instead  of  that,  they  unfortunately 
preferred  the  policy  of  encouraging  Spain  to  continue 
the  war,  although  they  could  not  venture  to  assist  her 
in  it,  and  thus  made  this  ill-starred  kingdom  the  victim 
of  their  inveterate  prejudices  and  empty  terrors. 

These  considerations  bring  me  to  the  other  great 
point,  in  the  international  relations  of  the  principal  pow 
ers  of  the  Christian  world,  and  in  the  foreign  policy  of 
America,  which  is  the  position  of  the  British  empire  as 
respects  the  two  continents.  It  follows,  from  what  has 
been  remarked  above,  that  this  empire  is  now  placed  in 
a  friendly  attitude  towards  America,  and  in  a  hostile  one 
towards  the  continent  of  Europe.  The  declaration  in 
favour  of  the  Spanish  colonies,  and  the  subsequent  ac 
knowledgment  of  their  independence,  produced  a  feeling 
of  disgust  and  indignation  in  the  cabinet  of  Spain,  and 
in  those  of  the  principal  continental  powers,  which  was 
only  prevented  by  the  most  imperious  prudential  con 
siderations,  from  breaking  out  into  open  war.  The 
dissatisfaction  created  by  these  measures  was  infinitely 
greater  than  that  which  was  occasioned  in  the  same 
quarters,  by  the  similar  previous  proceedings  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States.  The  latter  were  so  obviously 
the  natural,  we  may  say  necessary,  results  of  our  geo 
graphical  and  political  situation,  that  the  public  mind 
was  every  where  prepared  for  them;  and  that  they 


250 

excited  no  surprise/  and  comparatively  but  little  discon 
tent,  in  the  governments  more  immediately  interested. 
England,  on  the  other  hand,  was  regarded  as  a  sort  of 
apostate  from  the  common  cause.  She  had  been  fight 
ing  the  battles  of  counter-revolution,  by  the  side  of  the 
continental  powers,  for  thirty  years;  and  all  at  once,  in 
a  quarrel  which  appeared  to  them  to  be  only  a  continu 
ance  of  the  same  long  struggle,  (as  to  a  certain  extent 
it  in  fact  was,)  they  found  her  suddenly  deserting  their 
standard,  and  then,  with  hardly  a  perceptible  interval, 
taking  the  field  among  the  auxiliaries  of  the  revolution 
ary  party.  It  cannot  be  denied,  that  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  inconsistency  in  these  proceedings,  on  the  part 
of  England,  and  it  probably  appeared  even  greater  than 
it  was,  to  her  old  continental  friends,  whose  habitual 
modes  of  thinking  prevented  them  from  realizing  the 
powerful  considerations,  which  recommended  to  the 
British  government  a  new  political  course,  while  cir 
cumstances  were  nearly  the  same  as  before.  The  dis 
appointment  felt  by  these  powers  at  seeing  their  pro 
jects  defeated,  was  thus  aggravated  by  the  strong  disgust, 
which  an  act  of  apostacy  from  selfish  motives,  real  or 
supposed,  uniformly  and  very  naturally  excites ;  and  the 
feeling  of  reciprocal  ill-will,  which  has  ever  since  ex 
isted  between  the  British  cabinet  and  the  other  princi 
pal  European  governments,  is  perhaps  as  cordial  as  any 
one  of  the  kind,  that  was  ever  masked  under  the  out 
ward  form  of  alliance  and  friendship.  The  same  pro 
ceedings  produced  of  course  a  deep  sensation  of  grati 
tude  in  the  new  American  governments,  and  of  appro 
bation  in  the  government  and  people  of  the  United 


251 

States ;  who  thus  found  the  policy,  in  which  they  had 
led  the  way,  sanctioned  and  sustained  by  the  imitation 
of  England,  and  the  eventual  danger,  to  which  it  might 
have  exposed  them,  completely  removed,  by  this  im 
posing  authority  in  their  favour.  In  this  way  the  exist 
ing  political  system  was  completed,  in  all  its  different 
parts;  the  independence  of  the  Spanish  colonies  finally 
assured  ;  the  two  continents  of  Europe  and  America  left 
in  a  state  of  political  opposition  or  virtual  hostility,  and 
the  British  empire  recognized  as  an  open  and  declared 
ally  of  the  latter  party.  Such  is  the  outline  of  the  pre 
sent  international  relations  of  the  Christian  world. 

It  has  so  happened,  therefore,  by  a  somewhat  singular 
effect  of  the  course  of  public  events,  that  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States,  who  but  a  few  years  since  were 
at  war  with  each  other,  upon  grounds,  as  it  then  ap 
peared,  of  a  permanent  and  essential  character,  who  for 
a  long  time  previous  had  been  in  a  state  of  continual  and 
bitter  collision,  and  had  never  since  the  war  of  inde 
pendence,  one  may  say,  in  fact,  since  the  first  settle 
ment  of  the  colonies,  had  a  single  moment  of  real  cor 
diality,  have  now,  without  any  sacrifice  of  pride  or  prin 
ciple  on  either  side,  without  concession  and  indeed  with 
out  concert,  been  brought  by  the  mere  force  of  circum 
stances,  into  a  situation  of  virtual  alliance  and  amity,  so 
deeply  and  broadly  founded  in  the  interests  of  both,  and 
in  the  established  political  system  of  Christendom,  that 
it  cannot  well  fail  to  supersede  all  the  old  motives  of 
contention,  and  to  endure  as  long,  perhaps,  as  the  na 
tional  existence  of  either.  This  relation  is  so  far  from 
having  been  the  effect  of  any  reconcilement  of  feeling. 


252 

between  the  countries  and  their  governments,  or  of  any 
artificial  arrangements,  digested  by  leading  individuals, 
who  might  be  supposed  to  rise  above  the  low  sphere  of 
national  animosity,  that  it  has  taken  place,  as  it  were, 
against  the  will  of  the  parties,  whose  sentiments  arc 
even  now  less  friendly  than  their  position,  and  who 
seem  to  glare  on  each  other  with  eyes  of  hatred  and 
suspicion,  at  the  very  moment  when  they  are  exchang 
ing  good  offices  of  high  importance,  and  taking  the  field, 
in  fact,  together  against  a  common  enemy.  It  is  known 
indeed  that  the  British  government,  though  often  re 
quested,  has  constantly  refused,  through  the  whole  pe 
riod  during  which  this  new  relation  has  been  growing 
up,  to  act  in  concert  with  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  They  declined  the  proposition  made  by  the 
latter,  that  the  two  governments  should  recognize,  by  a 
simultaneous  act,  the  independence  of  the  American 
states,  although  such  a  proceeding  would  have  been 
perhaps  upon  the  whole  even  more  honourable  to  them, 
than  to  follow  step  by  step,  and  at  short  distances,  in  the 
course  marked  out  and  pursued  by  us.  They  also  af 
fected  to  consider  as  hostile  to  them,  the  declaration 
made  by  President  Monroe,  that  the  American  conti 
nent  was  no  longer  open  for  colonization,  although  the 
obvious  purpose  was  to  discourage  a  cession  by  Spain  of 
any  part  of  her  American  colonies  to  any  other  power, 
a  purpose  that  had  already  been  distinctly  and  formally 
avowed  by  England.  There  is,  therefore,  this  rather 
singular  difference,  in  the  form  and  spirit  of  the  re 
lations  now  existing  between  the  British  empire,  and 
the  two  continents  respectively :  that  with  that  of  Eu- 


253 

rope  a  feeling  of  deeply  seated  animosity  is  veiled  by 
a  semblance  of  apparent  good  will,  while  in  regard 
to  us,  the  new  sentiment  of  amity  has  hardly  yet  begun 
to  beam  out  brightly,  in  the  countenance  of  either  par 
ty,  through  the  sour  and  gloomy  expression,  which  had 
been  so  long  worn  by  both,  that  it  had  become  habitual 
and  in  some  degree  natural.  But  this  is  a  matter  of 
little  consequence.  The  forms  in  this,  as  in  most  other 
cases,  accommodate  themselves,  after  a  while,  to  the  sub 
stance  ;  and  we  have  reason  to  expect  that  the  two  go 
vernments,  after  they  shall  have  stood  by  each  other 
faithfully,  for  half  a  century,  in  regard  to  their  most 
important  interests,  will  not  refuse  at  last  to  exchange  a 
few  civil  speeches  and  good  humoured  looks.  Mr. 
Canning  indeed,  whose  decision  and  talents  have  done 
so  much  in  fixing  the  new  position  of  the  British  em 
pire,  in  regard  to  the  continent,  has  been  also  among 
the  first,  to  perceive  the  bearing  of  this  position  upon 
the  direct  relations  between  that  empire  and  the  United 
States.  His  address  to  Mr.  Hughes,  at  the  Liverpool 
dinner,  is  conceived  in  the  true  spirit  of  these  relations, 
as  they  now  exist.  The  tone  being  thus  given  by  the 
leading  voices,  the  minor  performers  will  of  course  in  due 
season  join  in  the  chorus ;  and  it  would  not  be  surprising 
if  we  should,  after  a  while,  be  as  much  surfeited  by  the 
gross  adulation  of  the  inferior  British  presses,  and  se 
cond  rate  politicians,  as  we  have  heretofore  been  dis 
gusted  by  their  causeless  and  tasteless  satire. 

I  observed,  in  a  preceding  chapter,  that  the  new  rela 
tion  of  political  alliance  and  amity,  which  has  been 
established  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States,  was  of  such  a  kind,  that 


254 

the  latter  power  would  have  no  reason  to  blush  for  its 
position  in  this  particular.  It  is  in  fact  a  relation,  on  all 
accounts,  equally  honourable  and  advantageous  to  both 
the  parties.  It  coincides  completely  with  the  economi 
cal  interests  of  both,  which  naturally  lead  them  to  en 
tertain  an  active  intercourse  and  commerce  with  each 
other,  and  which  were  constantly  sacrificed  under  the  pre 
viously  existing  system  of  mutual  hostility.  Politically 
viewed,  it  is  also  a  perfectly  fair  and  equal  connexion. 
The  British  islands,  from  their  geographical  situation 
and  comparatively  small  material  resources,  are  hardly 
safe  from  the  influence  of  the  continent,  and  require  to 
be  sustained  by  some  extraneous  aid.  They  have  ac 
cordingly  sought  and  found  such  support  in  their  im 
mense  commerce,  their  colonial  establishments,  and  the 
moral  power  which  forms  the  natural  accompaniment 
and  safeguard  of  both.  By  the  help  of  these  additional 
resources,  Great  Britain  has  hitherto  succeeded  in 
maintaining  a  completely  independent  position,  and  has 
even  at  times  exercised  a  powerful  influence,  in  the  ge 
neral  European  system.  But  the  new  form  which  this 
system  has  now  assumed,  in  consequence  of  the  great 
political  development  of  Russia,  would  have  made  it 
difficult  for  England  to  hold  her  ground  without  obtain 
ing  on  her  side  a  corresponding  extension  of  her  com 
mercial  and  extra  European  resources.  This  she  will 
in  fact  acquire,  by  the  establishment  of  friendly  relations 
with  the  American  continent.  By  forming  this  connex 
ion,  she  becomes  an  active  member  of  a  vast  political 
system,  which  embraces,  beside  her  own  dominion  and 
dependencies,  the  whole  western  hemisphere ;  finds  new 


255 

markets  for  her  products,  in  regions  where  population 
and  consumption  are  advancing,  and  will  continue  for 
centuries  to  advance,  with  almost  miraculous  rapidity, 
and  thus  realises  the  only  augmentation  of  power,  which 
she  had  reason  to  desire,  or  could  in  fact  turn  to  account. 
America,  on  the  other  hand,  has  already  derived  and 
will  long  continue  to  derive  the  most  important  benefits 
from  the  accession  of  England  to  her  cause.     It  served, 
as  I  have  stated  before,  to  settle  the  question  of  the  in 
terference  of  the  continent,  in  the  aifairs  of  the  south, 
and  put  the  last  seal  to  the  independence  of  the  Spanish 
colonies.     The   countenance  of  this   great    European 
power  will  also  continue  to  be  a  protection   to  them 
against  the  danger  of  any  future  revival  of  the  old  pro 
ject.     The  political  benefits  resulting  to   the  United 
States  from  this  cause,  are  chiefly  indirect,  but  not  the 
less  real.     It  is  now  acknowledged,  that  we  could  not 
see  with  indifference  the  subjugation  of  our  southern 
neighbours  and  allies,  by  the  continental  powers.  With 
out  pretending   to   decide  precisely,  what  our  policy 
would  be,  if  such  an  attempt  were  made,  we  have  cer 
tainly  great  reason  to  be  gratified  by  any  circumstance 
that  prevents  the  occurrence  of  the  crisis,  and  removes 
the  eventual  danger  of  a  war.     Such  is  the  effect  of  the 
new  position  of  England.     We  derive,  also,  from  this 
state  of  things,  the  great  direct  advantage  of  finding  a 
power  with  whom  our  relations  were  before  of  a  difficult 
and  delicate  character,  and  whom  we  viewed,  in  the 
language  of  public  law,  as  our  natural  enemy,  converted 
by  the  force  of  circumstances,  and  without  any  sacrifice 
by  us  of  pride  or  principle,  into  a  firm  friend  and  ally. 


256 

The  benefits  respectively  derived  by  the  two  parties  to 
this  great  political  union,  are  therefore,  for  the  present, 
very  nearly  equal.  In  the  progress  of  future  events,  we 
may  anticipate,  that  America  will  become  every  year 
more  and  more  important  to  England,  and  that  England, 
on  the  other  hand,  will  gradually  cease  to  render  any 
essential  service  to  America.  Such  is  the  rapid  growth 
of  our  continent  in  population,  wealth,  and  political 
power,  that  it  must  at  no  distant  period  be  entirely  se 
cure  in  the  extent  of  its  own  resources,  not  merely  from 
conquest,  which  it  is  already,  but  from  any  apprehen 
sion  or  danger  of  attack.  The  adherence  of  Great  Bri 
tain  to  our  system  will  then  be  to  us  of  no  utility ;  while 
the  same  causes  will  render  the  connexion,  in  an  econo 
mical  point  of  view,  to  her  constantly  more  and  more 
valuable.  Add  to  this,  that  while  our  continent  is  yearly 
developing  new  resources  of  every  kind,  it  is  altogether 
probable  that  the  British  empire  will  be  gradually 
brought  within  smaller  dimensions,  by  the  successive 
falling  off  of  its  distant  appendages,  and  will  ultimately 
be  reduced  to  its  primitive  possessions  on  the  north 
western  coast  of  Europe.  The  United  States,  having 
thus  become  the  most  populous  and  powerful  nation  of 
English  origin,  will  naturally  take  the  place  of  the 
British  islands,  as  the  commercial  and  political  centre 
of  the  English  settlements  in  every  part  of  the  globe  : 
while  the  original,  but  then  exhausted  parent  soil,  will 
lose  her  present  high  standing  as  a  constituent  member 
of  the  great  system  of  Christendom,  and  finally  sink  into 
a  dependency  on  the  continent.  But  without  dwelling 
too  much,  in  anticipations  which  may  appear  to  some 


257 

to  be  dictated  by  national  pride,  rather  than  just  poli 
tical  foresight,  it  is  sufficient  for  our  immediate  object 
to  remark,  as  I  have  done  before,  that  the  existing 
friendly  relation  between  the  British  empire  and  the 
continent  of  America,  is  for  the  present  at  least,  what 
ever  it  may  be  hereafter,  equally,  as  well  as  highly  be- 
nefical  and  honourable  to  both  the  parties. 

Such,  therefore,  is  the  general  outline  of  the  present 
international  relations  of  the  Christian  world,  and  parti 
cularly  of  our  continent,  in  regard  to  Europe.  This 
immense  system  is  of  course  made  up  of  a  number  of 
minor  ones,  each  of  which  has  its  separate  constituent 
and  regulating  principles,  and  its  appropriate  internal 
and  external  policy.  The  movement  of  some  of  these 
inferior  spheres  is,  at  present,  in  a  high  degree  inte 
resting  and  important.  The  war  in  Greece,  in  parti 
cular,  is  perhaps  better  fitted  to  excite  the  imagination 
and  warm  the  heart,  than  any  political  event  of  modern 
times.  It  is  filled  with  incidents  and  episodes  of  a  strange 
and  poetical  cast,  such  as  the  adventures  and  character 
of  Ali  Pacha  at  the  opening;  the  daring  and  successful 
enterprises  of  the  Grecian  Admirals ;  the  romantic  devo 
tion  with  which  Lord  Byron  offered  up  his  heart's 
blood,  as  he  had  done  before  the  first  and  finest  fruits 
of  his  genius,  in  this  sacred  cause ;  the  spectacle,  quite 
unexampled  in  modern  times,  of  the  successful  invasion 
of  Europe  by  an  African  army ;  the  appearance  of  Lord 
Cochrane  upon  this  new  theatre ;  and  finally  the  sup 
pression  of  the  Janissaries  and  a  complete  revolution  in 
the  internal  policy  of  Turkey.  There  is  something 
dramatic  in  this  series  of  occurrences,  independently  of 

33 


the  intrinsic  interest  of  a  contest,  that  revives  all  the 
charming  associations  connected  with  our  classical  stu 
dies,  and  in  which  our  holy  faith  is  painfully  struggling 
for  existence  on  the  same  fields  that  witnessed  its  first 
triumphs.  It  is  no  doubt  true,  that  poetry  has  not  much 
to  do  with  government,  and  that  the  Christian  powers 
would  perhaps  be  hardly  justified  in  making  common 
cause  with  the  Greeks,  merely  as  descendants-  of  the 
countrymen  of  Homer  and  Plato ;  but  even  statesmen 
might  reasonably  take  alarm  at  the  unanimity  with  which 
the  self-styled  true  believers  have  rushed  to  arms,  at 
the  first  display  of  the  Sandjiak  Sherif,  and  might 
justly  enough  apprehend  the  effect  on  Europe,  of  the 
entire  subjugation  of  Greece,  and  a  thorough  regenera 
tion  of  the  Ottoman  empire.  It  would,  however,  lead 
me  too  far  from  my  immediate  purpose,  to  dwell  at 
length  upon  these  considerations.  Beside  the  war  in 
Turkey, there  are  also  other  episodes  of  much  importance, 
in  the  political  action  which  is  now  proceeding.  Such 
are  the  immediate  relations  between  the  empire  of  Bra 
zil  and  the  kingdom  of  Portugal,  the  new  constitution 
that  has  just  been  adopted  by  the  latter,  and  the  influ 
ence  of  these  events  on  the  other  continental  powers,  and 
especially  Spain ;  the  respective  positions  of  this  latter 
kingdom  and  France,  as  an  occupied  and  occupying 
country,  and  so  forth.  Of  these  international  questions 
of  a  secondary  order,  there  are  two,  however,  of  para 
mount  importance,  and  which  have  heretofore  served  at 
times  to  determine  the  character  of  the  general  political 
system  of  the  day ;  I  mean  that  of  the  extension  of  con 
stitutional  liberty  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  that 


ef  the  maritime  rights  of  neutrals.  Both  these  subjects 
were  treated  at  considerable  length,  in  the  former  part 
of  this  work.  The  first  has  since  been  settled  or  thrown 
aside,  as  it  were,  by  the  complete  ascendancy  of  arbi 
trary  principles  on  the  continent;  and  has  ceased  to  be 
an  object  of  contemporary  interest,  did  it  even  fall  with 
in  the  plan  of  the  present  volume,  which  is  more  ex 
pressly  devoted  to  America.  The  other  has  assumed  a 
different  aspect,  in  consequence  of  the  additional  impor 
tance  which  our  continent  has  acquired  in  the  political 
system,  and  of  the  altered  position  of  England.  It  may 
be  proper,  therefore,  in  order  to  complete  the  view, 
which  I  have  endeavoured  to  give,  of  the  foreign  policy 
of  the  two  Americas,  to  add  a  brief  survey  of  tfyeir  actual 
situation  and  prospects,  in  regard  to  this  question. 

The  glaring  injustice  and  gross  absurdity  of  the  mari 
time  pretensions  of  Great  Britain  were  sufficiently  ex 
posed,  in  the  preceding  volume.  These  pretensions 
have  never  been  defended  out  of  England,  excepting  in 
a  time  of  high  party  excitement,  by  a  few  individuals  in 
our  own  country,  and  have  been  repeatedly  denounc 
ed  and  condemned  by  all  the  Christian  powers  without 
exception.  We  may,  therefore,  fairly  consider  them  as 
repugnant  to  the  common  sense  and  feeling  of  the  world, 
and  in  opposition  to  natural  law.  The  pertinacity,  with 
which  England  has  nevertheless  sustained  them,  against 
the  universal  opinion  of  Christendom,  is  also  perfectly 
well  known,  and  this  circumstance  has  at  times  exercis 
ed  a  decisive  influence  on  the  foreign  relations  of  the 
United  States.  It  served  in  fact,  until  after  the  elose 
of  the  late  war,  to  determine  their  position  in  the  general 


260 

system.  This  cause  established  between  us  and  Great 
Britain  a  relation  of  virtual  hostility,  and  had  a  strong 
tendency  to  involve  us  as  her  enemy,  in  any  war  in 
which  she  might  be  engaged.  It  also  naturally  esta 
blished  a  relation  of  virtual  alliance,  between  us  and  the 
continental  powers  of  Europe,  especially  Russia,  who 
had  shewn,  ever  since  the  time  of  the  armed  neutrality, 
a  strong  determination  not  to  yield  to  the  maritime  pre 
tensions  of  England,  and  who  had  ample  means  for  sus 
taining  what  she  thought  to  be  her  rights.  For  the 
same  reason,  we  regarded  France  and  the  other  mari 
time  powers  of  the  continent  as  natural  allies ;  and  all 
these  governments  entertained,  on  their  part,  the  same 
views  in  respect  to  us.  This  state  of  things  furnishes 
the  true  key,  to  our  foreign  relations  up  to  the  treaty 
of  Ghent.  It  accounts,  in  part,  for  the  assistance  which 
we  received  from  the  continental  powers,  in  the  war  of 
independence,  and  for  the  sympathy  we  felt  and  exhi 
bited  in  the  fortunes  of  those  powers,  during  their  long 
revolutionary  struggle  with  England ;  and  it  illustrates 
more  particularly  the  causes,  which  produced  the  late 
war  with  that  power,  and  which  brought  it  to  a  close. 
The  political  events  that  have  occurred  within  a  few 
years,  I  mean  the  emancipation  of  Spanish  America, 
and  the  change  in  the  position  of  England,  have  fortu 
nately  very  much  reduced  the  importance  of  this  ques 
tion  at  least  to  us ;  but  it  is  still  not  without  its  interest, 
and  should  be  carefully  kept  in  view  and  considered  by 
every  judicious  American  statesman. 

Should  a  general  war  unhappily  break  out  among  the 
Christian  powers,  while  the  causes  which  now  deter- 


261 

mine  their  international  relations  (and  which  have  been 
concisely  stated  in  the  present  chapter)  shall  continue 
to  operate,  it  would  necessarily  be  one,  in  which  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  would  both  be  engag 
ed,  and  on  the  same  side.  There  would  be  of  course 
in  such  a  case  no  embarrassment,  in  regard  to  neutral 
rights,  and  this  thorny  question  may,  therefore,  be  re 
garded  as  adjourned,  for  at  least  half  a  century.  In  the 
mean  time,  such  alterations  will  probably  occur,  in  the 
position  and  relative  situation  of  the  two  countries,  as 
will  prevent  it  from  ever  afterwards  becoming  a  source 
of  trouble.  This  result  is  one  of  the  most  agreeable  con 
sequences  of  the  establishment  of  the  present  political 
system,  and  of  its  operation  upon  the  interests  of  the 
United  States.  While  the  question  of  neutral  rights 
formed  the  leading  point  in  our  foreign  policy,  it  gave 
a  sinister  and  gloomy  aspect  to  all  our  future  prospects. 
It  was  next  to  impossible  in  the  nature  of  things,  that 
after  so  much  controversy,  negotiation,  and  bloodshed, 
the  respective  pretensions  of  the  two  parties  could  ever 
be  amicably  reconciled.  Their  opinions  had  become 
with  each  articles  of  political  faith,  sanctioned  by  tradi 
tion,  sealed  by  the  blood  of  martyrs,  and  in  which  both 
parties  acquiesced  in  a  manner  without  inquiry.  We 
went  to  war  upon  these  points  in  1812,  and  made  peace 
again  in  1814,  without  approaching  to  a  settlement  of 
them,  and  with  the  agreeable  anticipation  of  being  com 
pelled  to  renew  the  struggle  at  the  opening  of  the  next 
war  in  Europe.  Most  happily  for  us  they  have  since 
been  settled,  in  the  only  way  in  which  they  ever  could 
have  been,  by  events  that  have  diminished  their  prac- 


262 

lical  importance,  and  connected  our  political  interests 
with  other  questions  of  a  different  character. 

The  subject  of  neutral  rights  was  still  as  delicate  and 
critical  as  ever,  at  the  time  when  the  former  part  of  this 
essay  was  published,  and  however  hopeless  the  attempt, 
it  was  nevertheless  natural  to  endeavour  to  find  some 
means  of  adjusting  it,  in  an  amicable  way,  I  then  sug 
gested  a  method  of  effecting  this  object,  which  would 
have  removed  the  difficulty,  and  introduced  at  the  same 
time  an  important  improvement  in  the  practical  law  of 
nations.  I  proposed  that  the  two  parties  should  take  a 
higher  ground,  than  any  which  had  hitherto  been  oc 
cupied  in  the  negotiations  on  this  subject,  and  should 
agree  to  extend  to  the  ocean,  the  principle  which  had 
long  been  admitted  in  warlike  operations  on  land,  of 
respecting  all  private  property;  and  should  prohibit  the 
capture  of  it  under  any  pretext  whatever,  whether  by 
national  ships  or  privateers.  Such  an  arrangement 
would  have  set  aside  at  once,  and  without  any  compro 
mise  of  pride  or  principle  on  either  side,  all  the  ques 
tions  which  had  heretofore  been  treated  as  doubtful, 
such  as  the  rule  of  ?56  ;  that  of  free  ships ',  free  goods; 
the  restrictions  on  colonial  trade  and  impressment  at  sea. 
It  also  appears  very  easy  to  show,  as  I  then  endeavour 
ed  to  do,  that  this  innovation  in  public  law  would  not 
only  be  productive  of  much  incidental  convenience  in 
this  respect,  but  is  also  imperiously  demanded  by  a  re 
gard  not  merely  for  common  humanity,  but  for  ordinary 
consistency  and  plain  good  sense.  The  suggestion  was 
treated  as  visionary,  in  some  respectable  quarters,  but  I 
have  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  it  already  produce  in> 


263 

portant  practical  results,  and  am  not  without  hopes  that 
it  may  yet  do  something,  in  co-operation  with  other  more 
imposing  authorities,  to  effect  the  object  in  question. 
President  Monroe,  in  his  next  succeeding  message  to 
congress,  informed  that  body,  that  an  arrangement  of 
the  kind  just  mentioned  had  been  proposed  to  the  lead 
ing  European  powers,  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Rus 
sia;  and  I  have  had  the  satisfaction  to  learn,  from  an 
authentic  quarter,  that  the  suggestion  I  had  offered  on 
the  subject  was  taken  into  view,  in  determining  upon 
these  proposals.  They  have  not  yet,  I  understand,  been 
fully  successful  with  either  of  the  powers ;  but  it  is  con 
formable  to  the  usual  course  of  things,  that  such  an  in 
novation  should  be  for  some  time  under  consideration, 
and  should  be  stated  in  various  forms  and  quarters  before 
it  is  actually  admitted.  The  president,  in  his  message 
to  the  house  of  representatives  on  the  Panama  question, 
adverts  to  this  subject  in  a  manner  suited  to  its  high 
importance,  and  consonant  with  the  enlightened  and  hu 
mane  views  that  distinguish  the  whole  document.  It 
may  in  fact  be  very  reasonably  expected,  that  our  sister 
American  states  will  readily  join  with  us,  in  introducing 
this  principle  as  the  basis  of  maritime  public  law,  and 
thus  escape  from  the  difficulties  inherent  in  the  subject, 
on  any  other  construction,  and  which  have  already  be 
gun  to  present  themselves  in  our  negotiations  with  these 
powers.  By  some  persons  the  remarks  made  on  this 
subject,  in  the  work  alluded  to,  and  in  the  successive 
messages  to  congress  in  which  it  has  been  mentioned, 
have  not  been  fully  understood,  and  have  been  thought 
to  contemplate  merely  the  abolition  of  privateering.  But 


264 

while  the  practice  of  capturing  private  property  at  sea 
is  in  any  way  kept  up,  the  abolition  of  privateering 
would  be,  as  I  remarked  on  a  former  occasion,  injurious 
and  not  advantageous  to  the  cause  of  humanity.  Priva 
teers  are,  on  the  present  system,  the  natural  defence  of 
a  weaker  commercial  power  against  a  stronger  one. 
The  improvement  contemplates  that  private  property  of 
all  kinds  should  be  respected  by  public  as  well  as  pri 
vate  armed  ships,  and  would  of  course,  if  introduced, 
supersede  privateering  and  the  necessity  of  it.  This 
interesting  subject  was  ably  treated  by  Mr.  Livingston 
of  Louisiana,  in  one  of  his  speeches  in  congress  upon 
the  Panama  question.  His  observations  exhibited  the 
same  enlightened  zeal  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  of  which 
he  had  given  so  many  proofs,  in  his  previous  legislative 
and  political  labours.  With  these  distinguished  modern 
names  to  support  it,  in  addition  to  that  of  the  great 
Frederic  of  Prussia,  and  our  own  Franklin,  Jefferson, 
and  Adams,  who  established  it  forty  years  ago,  as  be 
tween  the  two  countries,  by  a  formal  treaty,  I  see  no 
reason  to  despair  that  this  salutary  principle  may  be 
ultimately,  and  at  no  very  distant  period,  sanctioned  by 
the  general  consent  of  civilized  nations  as  a  standing  rule 
of  public  law.  I  cannot  refuse  myself  the  pleasure  of 
adding  here  a  translation  of  the  passage  in  the  late  au 
thentic  and  valuable  work  by  Dohm,  upon  the  life  of 
Frederic,  in  which  he  mentions  the  treaty  just  alluded 
to,  between  the  United  States  and  Prussia.  It  will  serve 
to  show  that  the  importance  of  the  rules  established  by 
it  has  been  as  highly  appreciated  by  competent  judges 
on  the  continent  of  Europe,  as  it  has  in  this  country. 


265 

After  mentioning  the  fact  of  the  conclusion  of  the  trea 
ty,  (which  appears  to  have  been  the  last  that  was  nego 
tiated  under  the  authority  of  Frederic, )  and  quoting  the 
articles  in  question,  the  author  proceeds  in  the  follow 
ing  manner. 

"On  these  grounds  was  the  treaty  in  fact  concluded. 
It  was  the  last  that  was  negotiated  under  the  authority 
of  Frederic,  and  it  gave  the  first  example  of  a  high 
minded  spirit  of  humanity,  which  has  not  yet  been  imi 
tated  even  in  theory,  still  less  in  practice,  by  any  other 
power.  Instead  of  this,  we  have  seen  on  the  contrary, 
the  unavoidable  horrors  of  war  greatly  augmented  in 
these  latter  times,  by  the  unnecessary  and  savage  bar 
barity  with  which  it  has  been  carried  on. 

"  Some  persons  have  unjustly  and  vainly  attempted 
to  depreciate  the  merit  that  properly  belongs  to  Fre 
deric,  and  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  for 
establishing  these  humane  rules,  by  remarking  that 
there  was  at  the  time  very  little  probability  that  a  war 
would  ever  break  out  between  the  two  nations.  But 
the  case,  though  doubtless  improbable,  was  neverthe 
less  possible;  and  was  therefore  precisely  the  one,  for 
which  it  was  most  expedient  and  natural  to  provide  a 
remedy  beforehand.  It  can  hardly  be  expected,  that 
nations  who  are  so  continually  engaged  in  war,  that  a 
peace  between  them,  when  it  happens,  is  little  more 
than  a  truce,  will  do  much  to  mitigate  the  cruelty  of  its 
laws  and  usages.  The  example  must  be  given  by  those> 
which  from  their  respective  situations  are  more  amica 
bly  disposed  towards  each  other.  It  may  be  added, 

34 


266 

that  the  treaty  did  not  contemplate  merely  the  case  of 
a  war  between  the  parties,  but  also  that  in  which  one 
party  should  be  at  war  and  the  other  neutral.  When  at 
some  perhaps  very  distant  period,  the  manners  of  the 
Christian  world  shall  begin  to  soften,  and  it  shall  become 
the  sincere  and  earnest  business  of  nations  and  their 
rulers  to  diminish,  if  they  cannot  entirely  prevent,  the 
horrors  of  war,  it  will  then  be  remembered  by  posterity 
with  pleasure  and  gratitude,  that  Franklin,  Washington, 
and  Frederic,  were  the  first  to  entertain  these  humane 
notions,  and  to  recommend  them  as  laws  to  the  obser 
vance  of  their  respective  countries."* 


*  The  title  of  the  work  from  which  the  above  passage  is  ex 
tracted,  is  as  follows  :  Memoirs  of  my  own  Times,  or  Contribu 
tion  to  the  history  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  18M,  and  the  begin 
ning  of  the  19th  century,  by  Christian  William  Dohm.  It  is  written 
in  German,  and  the  first  five  volumes  (which  are  all  that  have 
appeared)  are  wholly  occupied  with  the  life  of  Frederic,  and 
the  history  of  Europe  during  his  reign.  The  author  had  been 
employed  by  him  in  the  most  important  diplomatic  and  politi 
cal  affairs,  and  enjoyed  his  confidence  and  friendship  in  a  high 
degree.  He  writes  with  great  good  sense  and  coolness,  (though 
with  a  very  decided  partiality  for  his  sovereign,)  and  also  displays 
throughout,  as  in  the  above  extract,  a  humane  and  upright  cha 
racter,  which  does  equal  honour  to  himself  and  to  the  monarch 
who  knew  how  to  distinguish  and  appreciate  it.  He  is  one  of  the 
few  modern  statesmen  who  are  not  Machiavelians  by  system,  and 
proud  of  being  thought  so.  The  work  is  full  of  valuable  infor 
mation,  which  would  be  entirely  new  to  the  British  and  Ameri 
can  public,  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  it  has  not  ye* 
been  translated. 


267 

As  regards  the  immediate  purpose  of  putting  our 
relations  with  Great  Britain  on  a  better  footing,  the 
importance  of  the  new  principle  in  public  law,  here 
alluded  to,  has  been  greatly  lessened  by  the  subse 
quent  events  to  which  I  have  repeatedly  adverted,  and 
which  have  formed  the  main  subject  of  the  present 
chapter. 


268 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

International  Relations  of  the   two  Americas. 
Congress  of  Panama. 

THE  general  principles  that  determine  the  interna 
tional  relations  of  the  two  Americas,  have  been  neces 
sarily  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter.  It  has  been 
shewn  that  the  position  of  our  continent,  in  the  political 
system,  is  fixed  by  the  nature  of  the  institutions  by 
which  it  is  governed ;  that  as  these  institutions  are  the 
same  throughout  the  whole  continent,  the  foreign  rela 
tions  of  its  different  sections  are  of  course  similar ;  and 
that  they  are  those  of  virtual  hostility  to  the  continent 
of  Europe,  and  of  amity  with  the  British  empire.  A 
community  of  interests,  as  respects  the  general  subject 
of  foreign  politics,  naturally  gives  a  friendly  character 
to  the  immediate  intercourse  between  the  two  great  sec 
tions  of  the  continent.  It  only  remains  to  show  that  this 
relation  has  been,  is,  and  is  likely  to  be,  in  fact,  of  the 
description  which  might  have  been  expected.  I  shall 
offer  a  few  remarks  in  illustration  of  this  point,  in  the 
present  short  chapter. 

On  the  old  European  theory,  which  supposes  that  all 
neighbouring  nations  are  as  such  natural  enemies,  the 
relative  position  of  the  United  States  and  the  new 


269 

American  governments,  would  have  been  by  no  means 
of  the  most  amicable  kind.  These  governments,  how 
ever  distant  some  of  them  may  be,  are  on  the  whole  our 
nearest  neighbours,  and  the  two  most  powerful  of  them 
approach  very  closely  to  our  southern  and  western 
limits.  The  statesmen  of  Europe,  reasoning,  as  they 
habitually  do,  upon  the  Machiavelian  principle,  consi 
der  it  accordingly  as  a  settled  point,  that  the  natural 
relation  between  the  United  States  and  Spanish  Ame 
rica  is  that  of  hostility ;  and  they  will  probably  do  all 
they  can  in  the  way  of  intrigue  and  negotiation,  to 
give  reality  to  this  anticipation,  and  thus  diminish  the 
influence  of  the  American  continent,  on  the  general  sys 
tem,  by  bringing  its  different  parts  into  collision  with 
each  other.  Little,  however,  need  to  be  apprehended 
from  such  efforts,  if,  as  there  is  reason  to  suppose,  they 
are  counteracted  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  and  if 
the  natural  relation  of  the  different  parts  of  America 
be,  as  I  have  considered  it,  in  itself  friendly.  The  error 
of  the  Machiavelian  system,  in  this  as  in  every  other 
application  of  the  principle,  lies  in  looking  exclusively 
on  the  wrong  side  of  human  nature,  and  concluding  from 
the  known  fact  of  the  existence  of  a  principle  of  evil, 
that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  principle  of  good.  This 
mistake  is  precisely  the  same  with  that  of  the  selfish  sys 
tem  of  morals  maintained  by  La  Rochefoucault,  and  is 
not  a  whit  less  obvious  than  the  opposite  error  of  deny 
ing  the  existence  of  evil,  and  calculating  on  a  permanent 
and  universal  prevalence  of  good  principles,  as  was  done 
by  the  partisans  of  perfectibility  in  France,  and  in  our 


270 

day  by  Mr.  Owen  and  his  disciples.*  The  reality  of 
both  of  these  elements  is  certain,  and  it  is  equally  cer 
tain,  that  one  or  the  other  will  prevail  in  the  relations 
between  countries,  as  in  those  between  individuals,  ac 
cording  to  the  circumstances  in  which  they  are  placed. 
The  direct  result  of  neighbourhood  is  to  increase  the 


*  I  expressed  on  a  former  occasion,  a  somewhat  favourable 
opinion  of  the  system  of  Mr.  Owen.  I  then  knew  nothing  of  it, 
excepting  from  an  article  in  one  of  the  English  journals,  in 
which  it  was  attacked  with  so  much  flippancy  and  apparent  in 
justice,  as  to  give  me  a  strong  impression  to  its  advantage.  I 
have  since  had  opportunity  to  converse  with  Mr.  Owen,  and  to 
learn  from  his  own  mouth  the  details  of  his  theory.  He  has 
certainly  some  good  ideas,  particularly  that  of  employing  sci 
entific  improvements  to  increase  the  comforts  and  abridge  the 
labours  of  the  working  classes.  His  plan  of  a  community  of 
goods,  is  as  old  as  the  time  of  Plato,  probably  a  great  deal 
older  ;  but  the  practicability  and  expediency  of  it  have  not  yet 
been  established  by  any  decisive  example.  If  practicable  and 
useful  any  where,  it  would  be  in  a  society  of  which  the  popula 
tion  was  extremely  dense  ;  and  is  of  course  less  likely  to  succeed 
at  present  in  the  United  States  than  in  almost  any  other  coun 
try.  Mr.  Owen  is  perhaps  injudicious,  in  attempting  to  connect 
with  his  economical  improvements,  a  complete  reform  in  reli 
gion  and  government.  On  these  subjects  his  information  seems 
to  be  less  extensive  than  on  those  of  a  practical  kind,  and  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  he  will  make  many  proselytes  to  this  part  of 
his  theory,  which  he  considers  as  by  far  the  most  important.  It 
is  but  justice  to  this  gentleman  to  add,  that  his  intentions  are 
evidently  of  the  most  benevolent  character.  The  settlements 
which  he  is  forming  in  the  western  country,  considered  simply 
as  great  manufacturing  establishments,  will  prove,  if  they  should 
succeed,  of  incalculable  benefit. 


271 

intimacy  of  the  relation  between  individuals  or  com 
munities^  but  not  to  determine  its  character;  and  it 
would  be  just  as  reasonable  to  say  that  individuals  inha 
biting  the  same  city,  street,  or  house,  are  natural  ene 
mies,  as  to  say  that  neighbouring  nations  are  so.  In  both 
cases  the  nature  of  the  relation  is  fixed  by  the  character 
and  interest  of  the  parties;  and  the  circumstance  of 
neighbourhood  has  no  other  effect  than  to  give  it  in  both 
cases  a  higher  degree  of  intimacy.  Neighbours,  whe 
ther  nations  or  individuals,  are  not  necessarily,  as  such, 
either  friends  or  enemies,  but  are  only  more  intimate 
as  friends  and  more  bitter  as  enemies,  than  they  would 
be  if  remote  from  each  other.  The  principle,  that  neigh 
bouring  nations  are  natural  enemies,  is  founded  on  the 
fact,  that  as  such  they  have  a  greater  facility  of  injuring 
each  other,  viewed  in  connexion  with  the  supposition, 
that  nations  and  individuals  always  do  each  other  all  the 
harm  they  can.  This,  as  I  have  said,  is  the  system  of 
Machiavel,  and  the  one  received  in  Europe,  but  is 
alike  repugnant  to  common  sense  and  common  humanity. 
The  very  word  humanity,  which  runs  through  all  lan 
guages  as  the  appropriate  term  for  benevolence,  proves 
that  good  feelings  constitute,  in  the  opinion  of  the  world, 
the  most  honourable  and  distinctive  feature,  in  the  mo 
ral  character  of  man  ;  and  as  neighbourhood  has  a  neces 
sary  tendency  to  develope  the  social  feelings  to  which 
we  give  the  name  of  goodness,  it  may  be  said  with  jus 
tice,  that  the  direct  result  of  this  cause,  when  not  coun 
teracted  by  others,  is  to  produce  a  friendly  and  not  a 
hostile  relation,  whether  between  nations  or  individuals. 
The  counteracting  causes  in  both  cases  are  conflicts  of 


272 

interest;  and  as  the  real  interests  of  individuals  and  so* 
cieties  never  interfere  with  each  other,  such  conflicts 
can  only  arise  from  a  vicious  political  or  individual 
organization  or  position,  which  leads  to  a  false  judgment 
respecting  the  interest  of  the  party  and  a  corresponding 
mistaken  line  of  conduct.  The  character  of  individuals 
no  doubt  has  its  weight,  even  in  the  relations  between 
communities ;  but  the  cause  which  operates  with  more 
immediate  force,  is  the  character  of  their  political  insti 
tutions.  In  proportion  as  these  are  conformable  to  rea 
son  and  to  nature,  they  will  tend  to  produce  natural  and 
correct  judgments  in  the  persons  entrusted  with  the  go 
vernment,  upon  all  questions  of  administration,  and  of 
course  upon  those  of  foreign  policy ;  and  as  it  is  the  real 
interest  of  neighbouring  nations  to  make  the  relation  be 
tween  them  as  friendly  as  it  necessarily  is  intimate,  the 
general  effect  of  such  institutions  will  be  to  give  it  this 
character.  On  the  other  hand,  we  need  not  look  beyond 
the  vices,  which  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  deform  the 
political  institutions  of  the  several  European  nations,  to 
find  the  reason  why  they  regularly  regard  and  treat 
each  other  as  natural  enemies  in  proportion  to  their 
proximity. 

This,  therefore,  is  the  great  cause  upon  which  we 
have  a  right  to  depend,  as  a  principle  of  permanent 
friendship  with  our  neighbours  in  Spanish  America ; 
and  which  we  can  oppose  with  confidence  to  the  sinis 
ter  conclusions  which  the  statesmen  of  Europe  are  in  the 
habit  of  drawing  upon  this  question,  from  their  favourite 
and  habitual  theories.  We  believe  that  the  political 
institutions  prevailing  through  all  parts  of  the  continent, 


273 

are  more  conformable  to  reason  and  nature  than  those 
which  are  established  elsewhere  ;  and  that  as  such,  their 
natural  tendency  will  be  to  produce  a  relation  of  amity 
between  the  different  communities  in  which  they  sub 
sist  ;  and  although  these  institutions  are  not  perhaps  at 
present  perfect,  either  in  North  or  South  America, 
more  especially,  as  I  have  intimated  before,  in  the  latter, 
nevertheless,  as  there  is  a  tendency  in  each  to  favour 
rather  than  discourage  all  reform  that  may  appear  ad 
vantageous,  we  have  reason  to  anticipate  that,  in  their 
future  progress,  they  may  approach  more  nearly  to  the 
type  of  perfection,  rather  than  recede  from  it,  and  that 
the  relations  resulting  from  them  will  have  a  constant 
tendency  to  become  more  and  more  amicable.     It  is  al 
ways,  however,  a  fortunate  thing,  when  the  favourable 
operation  of  general  principles  is  aided  by  the  concur 
rence  of  accidental  causes,  and  such  has  been  the  case 
as  respects  the  relations  between  the  United  States  and 
Spanish   America.      Under  the  operation  of  circum 
stances,  in  a  great  measure  independent  of  the  general 
cause  just  alluded  to,  these  relations  were  established  in 
the  first  instance,  on  a  footing  of  entire  amity  and  mu 
tual  good  understanding ;  and  the  same  circumstances 
have  continued  hitherto,  and  will  probably  continue  for 
a  long  time  to  come,  to  exercise  a  very  strong  influence 
in  preserving  and  maintaining  them  on  the  same  basis. 
It  was  our  good  fortune  to  have  the  opportunity  of 
manifesting  a  friendly  disposition  towards  these  new  na 
tions,  at  the  very  opening  of  their  political  existence, 
when  they  were  still  diffident  of  their  resources,  and 
were  looking  round  anxiously  for  foreign  succour.    We 

35 


274 

may  venture  perhaps  to  say,  without  fearing  to  be  charg 
ed  with  an  indelicate  assumption  of  merit,  that  the  poli 
cy  pursued  by  the  government  of  the  United  States,  in 
regard  to  the  Spanish  American  question,  is  one  of  the 
circumstances  that  have  contributed  very  powerfully  to 
aid  the  colonies  in  establishing  their  independence. 
Nor  has  this  policy  been  less  advantageous,  because  it 
has  been  distinguished  throughout  by  discretion  and 
good  sense,  as  well  as  an  enlightened  regard  for  the 
rights  of  humanity.  We  neither  embarrassed  our  young 
neighbours  with  officious  and  premature  aid,  before  we 
knew  in  what  way  we  could  best  serve  them,  nor  did  we 
wait  to  be  the  last  in  bidding  them  welcome  into  the 
family  of  Christian  communities.  Subsequently  to  the 
acknowledgment  of  their  independence,  it  was  publicly 
declared  by  the  United  States,  at  a  time  when  it  was 
known  that  the  great  continental  powers  had  thoughts 
of  taking  an  active  part  on  the  side  of  Spain,  that  such 
an  interference  would  be  considered  by  us  as  unfriend 
ly.  This  declaration  created  between  us  and  the  new 
American  governments  a  virtual  alliance  against  a  com 
mon  enemy,  which,  as  I  have  already  said,  determines 
at  present,  and  will  continue  to  do  so  for  a  long  time  to 
come,  the  character  of  our  foreign  relations  in  general. 
Our  position  in  regard  to  the  other  American  govern 
ments,  which  was  naturally  friendly,  has  assumed,  there 
fore,  in  consequence  of  accidental  circumstances,  the 
form  of  a  close  connexion  from  its  commencement,  and 
will  wear  this  shape  for  a  long  time  to  come.  In  this 
way  habit,  after  all  one  of  the  strongest  principles  of 
human  conduct,  will  confirm  what  nature  and  accident 


275 

have  combined  to  establish  ;  and  if  ever  the  relation  of 
the  two  sections  of  the  American  continent,  in  regard 
to  each  other,  becomes  unfriendly,  it  can  only  be  when 
the  whole  existing  political  system  shall  have  been  swept 
into  nothing,  by  some  of  the  great  changes,  whether 
sudden  or  gradual,  that  occur  from  time  to  time  in  hu 
man  affairs,  and  are  in  their  nature  beyond  the  reach  of 
anticipation.  It  would  be  easy  to  confirm  the  above 
remarks,  by  a  reference  in  detail  to  all  the  transactions 
that  have  taken  place  in  the  intercourse  between  the 
parties;  but  the  subject  is  too  familiar  to  the  American 
public  to  require  any  great  development.  It  may  in 
fact  be  considered  as  exhausted,  (if  any  subject  ever 
was,)  by  the  lucid  expositions  of  this  branch  of  our  fo 
reign  relations,  given  in  the  successive  messages  of  the 
president  to  both  houses  of  congress  upon  the  Panama 
mission,  and  in  the  various  reports  and  speeches,  for 
which  these  messages  furnished  the  occasion  or  pretext. 
My  object,  therefore,  in  touching  very  succinctly  upon 
some  of  the  leading  points  in  the  history  of  our  proceed 
ings  in  regard  to  this  question,  will  merely  be  to  com 
plete  in  form,  the  brief  review  of  the  foreign  policy  of 
the  country  required  by  this  essay. 

The  immense  importance  of  the  emancipatidn  of  Spa 
nish  America  to  the  world  in  general,  and  especially  to 
the  United  States,  was  early  perceived,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  by  the  leading  politicians  of  the  coun 
try,  and  was  justly  appreciated  by  the  body  of  the  peo 
ple.  Our  controversies  with  England  on  the  subject  of 
neutral  rights,  formed  the  most  interesting  point  in  our 
foreign  relations,  for  many  years  preceding  the  close  of 


276 

the  late  war,  and,  from  their  exceeding  delicacy  and 
difficulty,  in  some  degree  diverted  the  attention  of  the 
nation  from  all  others ;  but  even  at  this  time  the  govern 
ment  habitually  watched  with  interest  the  progress  of 
events  in  the  southern  regions  of  our  continent,  and  took 
the  necessary  measures  for  obtaining  early  and  correct 
information  respecting  them.  After  the  conclusion  of 
peace  with  England,  and  the  probability  which  soon 
became  apparent  from  the  subsequent  course  of  events, 
that  our  relations  with  Europe  would  be  hereafter  in  a 
great  measure  unembarrassed  by  conflicts  of  interest  or 
opinion,  the  eyes  of  the  people  were  turned,  with  a  still 
more  intense  curiosity  and  interest,  upon  the  struggle 
for  independence  in  the  Spanish  colonies.  A  variety 
of  causes  united  in  producing  this  effect.  It  was  im 
possible  not  to  feel  a  strong  sympathy  with  communities 
situated  precisely  as  we  were  fifty  years  ago,  at  the  most 
critical  moment  of  our  national  existence.  It  was  im 
possible  for  a  nation  so  warmly  attached  as  we  are  to  the 
humane  and  liberal  principles  which  form  the  basis  of 
our  government,  not  to  view  with  satisfaction  a  revolu 
tion,  which  would,  in  all  probability,  lead  to  the  adop 
tion  of  similar  principles  throughout  the  whole  western 
continent.  Independently  of  these  considerations,  it  was 
soon  perceived  and  felt,  that  our  immediate  interest  was 
deeply  involved  in  the  course  and  issue  of  this  contest ; 
that  the  emancipation  of  Spanish  America  would  form, 
in  fact,  a  new  era  in  our  political  existence,  would  ele 
vate  us  from  the  rank  of  a  secondary,  to  that  of  a  first 
rate  power,  and  would  place  us  at  the  head  of  one  of  the 
great  divisions,  into  which  the  Christian  world  would  be 


277 

thrown  by  the  effect  of  this  immense  revolution*  Not 
to  have  been  aware  of  these  truths  would  have  argued 
in  our  statesmen  a  want  of  ability  and  sagacity,  with 
which  they  have  rarely  been  chargeable ;  but  the  deli 
cacy  of  the  crisis  was  equal  to  its  importance,  and  to  fix 
the  precise  line  of  conduct  which  the  government  ought 
to  follow,  was  undoubtedly  the  most  difficult  problem 
that  has  presented  itself  since  the  first  establishment  of 
our  independence.  It  was  seen,  however,  at  once,  that 
neither  policy  nor  duty  would  permit  us  to  shrink  from 
the  high  and  responsible  position  in  which  the  course 
of  events,  or  in  other  words  the  will  of  Providence,  had 
placed  us.  Had  we  been  pusillanimous  enough  to  wish 
to  abandon  the  splendid  pre-eminence  to  which  we  were 
called,  and  to  neglect  our  duty  as  the  first  born  and  na 
tural  head  of  the  flourishing  family  of  young  American 
nations,  we  could  not,  in  this  way,  have  escaped  from 
supporting  our  share  in  the  result  of  the  commotions 
going  on  in  our  neighbourhood.  We  must  have  been 
either  active  or  passive  spectators  of  a  most  important 
and  interesting  series  of  events^  which  had  a  deep  and 
necessary  connexion  with  our  own  interest.  In  the  for 
mer  case  it  was  in  our  power  to  give  them  to  a  certain 
extent  such  a  character  and  direction  as  suited  our  poli 
cy  ;  in  the  other  we  made  ourselves  the  slaves  of  acci 
dent,  or  rather  laid  ourselves  open  to  certain  injury,  for 
accident  rarely  helps  those  who  are  too  unwise  or  too 
indolent  to  help  themselves.  Under  these  circumstances, 
it  was  hardly  possible  that  the  government  or  the  peo 
ple  should  have  entertained  a  doubt  as  respects  the 
ehoice.  All  were  satisfied  from  the  first,  that  this  was 


278 

a  crisis  in  which  the  nation  was  called  upon  to  act ;  but 
then  it  was  necessary  to  act  with  prudence  and  discre 
tion  as  well  as  firmness.  We  had  duties  to  Spain,  duties 
to  Europe,  duties  to  ourselves,  as  well  as  duties  to  our 
southern  neighbours,  which  were  all  to  be  taken  into 
view,  so  that  the  moment  was  singularly  critical  as  well 
as  important.  It  is  highly  honourable  to  the  govern 
ment,  that  while  they  met  the  exigency  with  manly 
firmness,  and  pursued  throughout  a  bold  and  vigorous, 
rather  than  a  cautious  line  of  conduct,  they  nevertheless 
tempered  their  courage  so  judiciously  with  a  mixture  of 
discretion  and,  a  just  observation  of  the  forms  of  civility, 
that  no  positive  offence  has  been  taken,  in  any  quarter, 
at  their  proceedings ;  that  these  have  met  with  general 
approbation  at  home,  have  already  been  imitated  in  the 
most  important  points  by  some  of  the  most  enlightened 
and  powerful  nations  of  Europe,  and  have  been  stamp 
ed,  on  the  whole,  with  the  favourable  opinion  of  the 
civilized  world.  On  this  subject  the  policy  of  the  go 
vernment  has  never  wavered  for  a  moment,  but  has  pur 
sued  a  steady  and  uniform  inarch,  from  the  first  friendly 
reception  of  the  flag  of  the  new  American  governments 
in  our  ports,  and  of  their  private  agents  at  Washington, 
down  to  the  nomination  of  ministers  to  assist  at  the  con 
gress  of  Panama.  The  several  measures  that  have  been 
adopted  during  this  period,  are  all  parts  of  one  system, 
and  follow  each  other  naturally,  like  consecutive  mem 
bers  in  a  regular  series.  It  was,  therefore,  under  a  very 
indistinct  and  erroneous  impression  as  to  the  general  cha 
racter  of  our  foreign  relations,  that  the  last  of  the  measures 
above  alluded  to,  was  regarded  by  some  persons  as  in- 


279 

volving  the  establishment  of  new  principles,  and  as  a 
departure  from  the  settled  policy  of  the  country.  In 
stead  of  this,  it  was  only  one,  and  that  by  no  means  the 
most  important,  of  a  course  of  measures  which  had,  for 
ten  years  preceding,  constituted  the  only  interesting 
branch  of  our  foreign  relations,  and  was  likely  to  do  so  for 
centuries  to  come.  Without  intending  to  treat  this  par 
ticular  point  in  detail,  (since  it  has  already  received  a 
great  deal  more  of  the  public  attention  than  it  was  fairly 
entitled  to,)  I  shall  briefly  touch  upon  it  again  at  the 
close  of  this  chapter. 

The  situation  of  the  government,  when  it  was  first 
called  upon  to  take  in  hand  the  great  question  of  Span 
ish  America,  was  the  more  delicate,  inasmuch  as  the 
usual  lights  of  experience  and  acknowledged  authority 
were  in  a  great  measure  wanting.  The  title  of  public 
law  that  shall  treat  of  the  recognition  of  new  nations,  is 
yet  to  be  written  ;  and  in  the  absence  of  written  rules, 
there  are  also  very  few  examples.  The  country  was 
bound  by  its  position,  its  interest,  and  its  duty,  to  take 
the  lead.  It  could  not  with  propriety  wait  to  see  what 
others  would  do,  and  be  guided  or  warned  by  their  pro 
ceedings,  but  was  compelled  of  necessity  to  act  for  it 
self;  and  in  determining  upon  the  time  and  form  in 
which  it  would  act,  little  or  no  aid  could  be  derived 
from  any  foreign  quarter.  Under  these  circumstances, 
the  first  rule  of  policy  adopted  by  the  government, 
seems  to  have  been  to  place  itself  on  a  perfectly  solid 
basis  at  home,  before  it  began  to  exercise  any  influence 
abroad ;  and  the  executive  department  held  itself  for 
some  time  sedulously -and  studiously,  in  regard  to  this 


280 

subject,  a  little  in  the  rear  of  public  opinion.  It  was 
in  fact  of  the  highest  importance,  both  as  respected 
foreign  powers  and  ourselves,  that  the  voice  of  the  peo 
ple  should  be  freely  and  loudly  uttered,  by  all  its  usual 
and  most  authoritative  organs,  before  the  government 
commenced  a  series  of  measures,  which  was  to  open  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  the  country.  The  interchange 
of  private  agents,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  informa 
tion,  that  took  place  before  the  close  of  the  war  with 
England,  was  a  merely  informal  thing,  which  in  no  way 
committed  the  government,  and  is  not  to  be  reckoned 
in  the  list  of  public  proceedings.  Of  these  latter,  the 
first,  and  a  much  more  important  one  than  it  has  some 
times  been  considered,  was  the  recognition  of  the  flag 
of  the  new  states  by  our  custom-house  officers  and  courts 
of  justice,  for  the  purposes  of  commerce  and  of  war  upon 
the  ocean.  Whenever  the  public  law  upon  this  subject 
shall  be  fully  settled,  it  is  probable  that  this  admission, 
and  not  the  interchange  of  diplomatic  agents,  which  is 
a  merely  formal  thing,  will  be  looked  upon  as  the  real 
and  substantial  acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of 
a  new  government.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  case  at 
present,  and  the  executive  and  judicial  departments  of 
the  government  felt  themselves  at  liberty  to  go  this 
length,  at  a  time  when  prudence  would  not  have  au 
thorised  a  formal  exchange  of  ministers.  In  the  mean 
time  the  public  opinion  was  gradually  maturing,  and 
statesmen  of  ardent  and  energetic  characters  began  to 
declare  themselves  with  freedom,  in  favour  of  still  more 
decisive  measures ;  and  were  naturally  seconded  in  this 
by  the  eager,  and  sometimes  indiscreet  zeal  of  the  pri- 


281 

vate  agents  of  the  interested  powers.  Anxious  to  avoid 
even  the  appearance  of  precipitation  in  regard  to  this 
momentous  subj  ect,  and  desirous  at  the  same  time  to  ex 
hibit  a  proper  sympathy  with  the  declared  feeling  of  the 
country,  the  government,  as  a  preliminary  step,  des 
patched  a  most  respectable  commission,  appointed  and 
fitted  out  in  a  formal  way,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring 
information  upon  the  actual  position  of  the  new  states. 
What  the  general  nature  of  their  report  would  be,  was 
of  course  known  pretty  well  beforehand;  but  it  was 
decorous  and  proper,  that  the  information  which  was  to 
be  officially  acted  on,  should  come  before  the  world  in 
an  official  shape.  While  the  commissioners  were  absent, 
the  policy  of  taking  decisive  measures  was  pressed  upon 
the  government,  by  constant  declarations  of  public  opi 
nion  and  feeling,  in  the  most  imposing  forms ;  and  it  was 
easy  to  see  that  the  moment  for  action  was  ripening  very 
fast.  Finally,  when  the  commissioners  returned  \vith 
favourable  reports,  after  the  subject  had  been  repeatedly 
taken  up  in  congress,  where  nothing  but  the  great  and 
well  deserved  confidence  which  was  felt  in  the  wisdom 
of  the  executive,  prevented  an  anticipation  of  the  de 
cision  of  the  latter,  then  every  thing  was  at  last  mature ; 
the  president  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  mea 
sures  necessary  for  an  exchange  of  diplomatic  agents, 
and  the  recommendation  was  acted  upon  in  both  houses 
by  all  but  unanimous  votes.  Such  were  the  fortunate 
auspices,  under  which  the  government  opened  this  new 
and  interesting  chapter  in  our  history ;  and  thus  it  came 
about,  that,  by  a  wise  and  prudent  manner  of  proceed 
ing,  they  were  able  to  carry  into  effect  resolutions  of  a 

36 


2S2 

bold  and  decided  cast,  not  only  without  shocking  the 
public  opinion  at  home  in  any  of  its  divisions,  but  with 
out  even  offending  the  foreign  nations  most  immediately 
interested,  and  in  point  of  form  even  injured  by  them. 
Spain,  who  might  according  to  formal  rules  have  justly 
declared  war  against  us,  contented  herself  with  entering 
a  protest,  and  has  never  interrupted  her  former  friendly 
intercourse.  The  other  continental  powers  had  become 
prepared  for  the  measure,  and  learned  it  without  sur 
prise  or  open  demonstration  of  offence  ;  and  England; 
observing  the  facility  with  which  we  had  accomplished 
our  purpose,  and  desirous  not  to  be  too  far  outstripped 
by  us  in  the  rendering  of  good  offices  to  these  thriving 
young  candidates  for  national  existence,  made  haste  on 
her  side  to  acknowledge  their  claim,  and  thus  sealed 
and  settled  for  ever  the  question  of  their  emancipation 
and  political  independence.  In  this  way  only  could  our 
recognition  have  produced  the  favourable  effect  which 
it  did,  upon  the  position  of  the  new  states.  Had  it  been 
made  in  a  precipitate  and  careless  way,  before  the  pub 
lic  mind  was  prepared  for  it  at  home  and  abroad,  it 
would  have  endangered,  probably  sacrificed  our  tran 
quillity  ;  deprived  us  of  the  power  we  have  since  had 
of  sustaining  the  cause  of  our  neighbours,  by  the  weight 
of  an  imposing  and  friendly  neutrality  ;  deterred  instead 
of  inducing  Great  Britain  to  follow  our  example,  and 
very  probably  provoked  the  continental  powers  of  Eu 
rope  to  take  an  active  part  on  the  side  of  Spain.  It  is 
therefore,  then,  no  more  than  an  act  of  common  justice 
to  the  government  of  the  United  States  and  to  President 
Monroe,  under  whose  administration  these  important 


283 

proceedings  took  place,  to  say,  that  this  distinguished 
statesman,  and  the  cabinet  over  which  he  presided,  con 
sisting  of  Messrs.  Adams,  Crawford,  Calhoun,  and 
Thompson,  entrusted  as  they  were  with  the  manage 
ment  of  our  public  affairs  at  a  most  important  and  deli 
cate  crisis,  proved  themselves  to  be  equal  to  their  posi 
tion,  and  discharged  a  very  arduous  duty  with  a  singu 
lar  union  of  firmness  and  discretion,  and  in  a  manner 
which  merited  as  it  had  received  the  general  approba 
tion  of  the  world.  In  this  way  too,  the  leading  citizens 
of  the  country,  who  were  afterwards  to  come  forward  at 
the  head  of  the  administration,  being  either  members  of 
the  cabinet  or  of  congress  when  this  course  was  adopt 
ed,  and  having  all  supported  it  with  vigour  in  their 
appropriate  sphere  of  action,  were  all  committed  on  the 
question,  and  there  was  no  reason  to  fear  that  any  one 
of  them,  whatever  might  be  their  subsequent  situation, 
would  dispute  the  propriety  of  proceedings  in  which  he 
had  himself  been  concerned,  or  of  others  dictated  by  the 
same  policy  which  would  naturally  follow  them. 

In  this  way  did  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
through  the  medium  of  their  appropriate  organs  invest 
ed  with  the  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial  powers, 
as  well  as  in  every  other  form  in  which  their  sentiments 
are  usually  declared,  express  their  will  on  this  impor 
tant  subject.  The  policy  which  was  recommended. be 
fore  by  the  strongest  motives  of  interest  and  duty,  was 
now  identified  with  the  national  honour,  and  it  would 
have  been  impossible  for  the  country  to  retire,  without 
exposing  itself  to  just  reproach,  from  the  high  and  re 
sponsible  stand  which  it  had  assumed.  No  disposition  of 


284 

this  kind,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  has  yet  been  mani 
fested  ;  and  the  next  proceeding  of  the  government,  in 
regard  to  this  question,  was  marked  perhaps  by  a  still 
more  decided  spirit  than  that  which  dictated  the  act  of 
recognition ;  I  allude  to  the  declaration  made  by  Presi 
dent  Monroe,  in  his  next  succeeding  message  to  con 
gress,  that  the  interference  of  any  European  power,  for 
the  purpose  of  aiding  Spain  in  reconquering  her  colo 
nies,  would  be  looked  upon  by  the  United  States  as  an 
unfriendly  act.  This  intimation,  couched  in  the  cool 
and  measured  language  which  suited  the  nature  of  the 
document  in  which  it  was  inserted,  and  indeed  of  all 
state  papers,  may  not  appear  at  first  view  of  a  very 
alarming  or  important  character ;  but  when  we  consider 
the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  made,  and  its  re 
sults,  it  will  be  found  to  have  been  a  measure  hardly 
inferior  in  magnitude  to  the  act  of  recognition,  and  even 
bearing  a  stamp,  as  I  have  said,  of  a  still  more  deter 
mined  policy. 

In  regard  to  the  recognition,  it  was  the  wish  of  the 
executive  department,  as  I  have  remarked  above,  to 
hold  itself  a  little  in  the  rear  of  public  opinion.  Such 
a  system  was  required  by  the  nature  of  our  government 
and  the  general  rules  of  a  sound  and  judicious  policy. 
The  president's  declaration  was  a  measure  of  a  different 
character,  and  in  this  the  executive  department,  with 
equal  propriety,  took  the  lead  of  all  the  other  branches  of 
the  government,  or  organs  of  the  people,  and  assumed 
the  responsibility  of  expressing,  in  the  first  instance, 
the  national  wish.  It  is  a  part  of  the  duty  of  this  de 
partment  to  procure  information  of  the  proceedings  of 


285 

foreign  powers,  and,  as  far  as  may  be  practicable,  of  their 
intentions  and  projects,  to  the  end  that,  if  they  are  found 
in  any  way  to  affect  our  interests,  we  may  have  warning 
in  season,  and  shape  our  course  accordingly.  To  aid  in 
furnishing  this  information,  is  one  of  the  most  important 
offices  of  our  diplomatic  agents  abroad.  Much  of  it 
never  gives  occasion  to  any  public  proceedings,  and  is 
not  communicated  to  the  people.  In  some  cases,  as  in 
the  one  now  in  question,  it  leads  to  measures  of  an  im 
portant  character,  and  the  advantage  of  possessing  it  is 
deeply  felt.  In  the  exercise  of  this  branch  of  its  duty, 
it  appears  that  the  executive  department  had  ascertain 
ed  that  the  continental  powers  of  Europe  were  strongly 
disposed  to  assist  Spain  in  reconquering  her  emancipated 
colonies ;  that  negotiations  were  going  on  among  them 
for  this  purpose ;  and  that,  if  such  a  resolution  were  not 
finally  adopted,  it  would  not  be  for  want  of  inclination 
in  these  powers,  but  because  they  did  not  think  it  safe. 
It  was  known  that  England,  though  involved  to  a  certain 
extent  in  these  negotiations,  was  not  a  party  to  the  pro 
ject  ;  but  it  was  not  certain  how  far  she  would  consider 
it  prudent  to  declare  against  it,  or  what  her  precise  course 
would  be.  The  United  States  had  already  recognised 
the  new  governments.  What  under  these  circumstances 
was  to  be  their  conduct  ?  After  risking  a  war  with 
Spain,  because  they  thought  it  due  to  their  position 
and  their  policy  to  take  the  lead  on  this  great  question, 
were  they  now  to  look  on  passively,  and  see  the  govern 
ments  they  had  recognised  beaten  down  by  a  world  in 
arms,  as  rebellious  colonies?  If  it  was  just  and  politic  to 
acknowledge  them,  was  it  not,  on  the  contrary,  still  more 


286 

just  and  politic  to  give  them  countenance  and  encourage 
ment  afterwards?  England  was  disposed  to  take  a  fa 
vourable  part,  but  was  still  wavering.  A  timely  de 
monstration  of  decision  and  vigour  on  our  side,  might 
perhaps  induce  her  to  exhibit  corresponding  sentiments 
on  hers ;  and  the  weight  of  both  together  might  avert 
the  danger.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  the  crisis 
was  certainly  delicate.  Should  we  stand  forward  in  an 
ostensible  position,  should  England  think  it  prudent  to 
adopt  a  cautious  system,  and  the  continental  powers 
proceed  with  vigour,  we  should  find  ourselves  in  some 
degree  committed  to  the  new  states,  and  might  yet  be 
called  upon  to  engage  in  the  war.  But,  however  cri 
tical  the  case,  it  was  impossible  for  the  executive  de 
partment  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  any  previous  display  of 
the  public  opinion,  because  the  public  were  not  inform 
ed  of  the  facts,  and  because  there  was  not  time  to  make 
them  known.  Negotiations  were  actively  in  progress, 
and  a  short  delay  in  the  march  of  our  proceedings 
might  be  followed  by  serious  results.  It  was  a  case  in 
which  the  executive  was  bound  to  assume  the  responsi 
bility  of  leading  the  opinion  of  the  nation ;  and  the  ad 
ministration  did  not  long  hesitate.  Emulating  the  bold 
and  manly  virtues,  so  often  displayed  by  our  ancestors 
at  every  period  in  the  history  of  the  country ;  taking 
counsel,  to  use  the  noble  language  of  the  President,  then 
secretary  of  state,  and  entrusted  under  the  direction  of 
President  Monroe  with  the  immediate  management  of 
our  foreign  affairs,  taking  counsel  of  their  duties  rather 
than  their  fears,  the  government  determined  to  inform 
the  world  at  once,  that  the  nation  could  not  see  with 


287 

indifference  an  interference  of  the  continental  powers  of 
Europe,  in  the  affairs  of  our  hemisphere,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  destroying  its  new  horn  independence  and  li 
berty.     The  declaration  was  made  in  plain  and  intelli 
gible,  but  at  the  same  time  decorous  language,  without 
equivocation  and  without  fanfaronade  ;  and  it  would  be 
difficult  perhaps  to  cite  an  example  of  an  equal  effect, 
produced  by  an  equally  short  and  simple  phrase.  Never 
was  the  force  of  true  eloquence,  by  which  we  mean  the 
just  and  simple  expression  of  powerful  thoughts,  more 
strikingly  displayed  than  on  this  signal  occasion.     The 
burst  of  enthusiasm  with  which  this  declaration  was  re 
ceived  in  the  United  States  and  in  England ;  the  sort  of 
shivering  sensation  with  which  it  shook  like  an  ague  fit 
the   old   continent   of    Europe,    proved    satisfactorily 
enough  how  completely  the  executive  had  anticipated 
the  feeling  of  the  country,  and  how  correct  a  judgment 
they  had  formed  of  their  own  position  and  of  the  line  of 
conduct  it  required  of  them.    The  manner  in  which  the 
declaration  was  received  at  home  and  abroad,  was  also  a 
most  favourable  omen  of  its  practical  success.  I  happen 
ed  at  the  time  to  be  residing  on  the  continent  of  Europe, 
and  in  a  situation  which  naturally  led  me  to  survey  with 
some  attention  the  course  of  passing  events.     I  well  re 
collect,  and  remember  to  have  stated  explicitly  in  writ 
ing  at  the  time,  the  very  strong  impression  produced  in 
all  parts  of  the  old  world,  by  the  message  now  alluded  to. 
It  was  the  first  time  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States  had  ever  been  called  upon,  to  express  an  opinion 
intended  to  affect  immediately  the  general  politics  of 
the  Christian  system,  and  the  novelty  of  the  proceeding 


288 

excited  every  where  a  kind  of  surprise.  It  seemed  as  if 
a  new  and  powerful  member  was  assuming  his  place,  in 
the  great  Amphictyonic  council  of  nations.  The  promp 
titude  with  which  the  decision  of  the  government  had 
been  taken,  and  the  firm  language  in  which  it  was  ex 
pressed,  contributed  to  give  it  its  full  natural  effect ; 
and  this,  as  I  have  stated  before,  was  every  where  im 
mense.  In  England  it  conquered  for  a  moment  the  set 
tled  hostility  of  the  tories,  and  the  sullen  scornful  jeal 
ousy  of  the  whigs  ;  and  we  saw  the  singular  spectacle  of 
a  general  acclamation  of  all  parties  in  the  mother  coun 
try,  in  favour  of  the  political  course  of  the  United 
States.  On  the  continent,  the  surprise  occasioned  by  it 
was  followed  by  a  mingled  feeling  of  disgust  and  terror. 
It  may  look  perhaps  like  exaggeration,  to  represent  the 
great  alliance  of  powers  here  indicated  by  the  word 
continent,  as  capable  of  being  alarmed  by  any  possible 
proceeding  on  the  part  of  a  government  so  much  infe 
rior  to  them  as  the  United  States  now  are  in  actual  phy 
sical  force.  But  the  fact  is  not  the  less  certain,  and  I 
doubt  not  will  be  fully  confirmed  by  the  concurrent  tes 
timony  of  competent  judges.  It  is  also  by  no  means 
very  difficult  to  be  accounted  for.  These  antiquated 
governments  cling  with  a  sort  of  agonizing  grasp  to  the 
abuses,  with  which  they  are  all  infected ;  but  are  still 
to  a  certain  extent  conscious  of  the  weakness  and 
embarrassment,  which  these  abuses  entail  upon  them. 
They  know  by  experience  the  vigour  of  liberal  in 
stitutions,  and  although  they  have  succeeded,  by  an 
immense  superiority  of  physical  force,  in  crushing 
these  at  home,  they  are  still  tremblingly  alive  upon  the 


289 

subject,  and  watch  with  painful  anxiety  the  progress 
and  development  of  such  institutions  in  the  new  world. 
It  was  quite  amusing  to  observe  the  various  tones  that 
marked  the  language  of  the  different  continental  jour 
nals^  which  serve  as  organs  to  the  different  opinions. 
The  liberal  writers  shared  the  enthusiasm  which  was 
felt  in  England  and  America,  and  were  agreeably  sur 
prised  by  an  appearance  of  vigour  in  our  proceedings, 
upon  which  they  had  hardly  ventured  to  calculate.  The 
ministerial  politicians  thought  it  rather  beneath  them  to 
display  much  anger,  and  spoke  with  affected  contempt 
of  the  temporary  chief  magistrate  of  a  little  republic  on 
the  east  coast  of  North  America,  pretending  to  give 
laws  to  the  continent  of  Europe.  Others,  who  were  or 
wanted  to  be  thought  ignorant  of  any  hostile  projects  on 
the  part  of  the  continental  powers,  undertook  to  amuse 
their  readers  by  turning  into  ridicule  the  warlike  hu 
mour  of  the  cabinet  of  Washington,  which,  as  they  chose 
to  intimate,  was  ready  enough  to  fight  when  there  was 
no  enemy  in  prospect.  In  the  mean  time,  this  well-timed 
and  vigorous  declaration  produced  the  most  favourable 
practical  results.  It  contributed  to  strengthen,  in  the 
British  cabinet,  the  disposition  to  counteract  the  pro 
jects  of  the  continent,  and  proved  sufficient  in  con 
nexion  with  the  declarations  made  by  England  to  defeat 
them.  The  intention  of  interfering  in  the  affairs  of 
Spanish  America  was  shortly  after  abandoned  ;  and  in 
this  way  the  crisis  passed  off  without  any  actual  incon 
venience. 

The  question  has  lately  been  moved,  how  far  the 
United  States   pledged   themselves  to  their  southern 


290 

neighbours,  by  this  important  declaration,  that  they 
would  adopt  under  certain  circumstances  a  certain  line 
of  policy.  But  on  this  point  there  does  not  seem,  in  fact, 
to  be  any  great  room  for  doubt.  If  by  a  pledge  be  un 
derstood  merely  the  strict  obligation  resulting  from  a 
formal  contract  or  treaty,  it  is  perfectly  evident,  that 
the  United  States  are  under  no  such  obligation  to  any 
foreign  power,  because  they  have  made  no  contract  or 
treaty  on  the  subject.  If  by  a  pledge  be  understood 
the  indirect  obligation  resulting  from  the  expectations 
which  may  have  justly  been  excited  in  the  minds  of  in 
terested  parties  by  our  proceedings,  there  can  be  as 
little  doubt,  that  thus  far  we  are  fully  pledged.  Such 
a  pledge  does  not  deprive  us  of  the  right  of  reconsider 
ing  our  policy  at  any  time,  and  if  we  think  we  have  been 
in  the  wrong,  of  adopting  another ;  but  it  would  natu 
rally  lead  us  not  to  change  our  system  without  great  con 
sideration  and  a  just  and  sufficient  motive.  The  interest 
of  many  foreign  powers,  indeed  of  the  whole  Christian 
world,  is  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  involved  in  the  de 
cisions,  that  may  be  taken  on  important  points  in  our 
foreign  relations  by  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
Under  such  circumstances,  a  judicious  and  consistent 
course  is  enjoined  upon  us  by  our  duty  to  others  as  well 
as  to  ourselves;  and  if  we  were  to  proceed  in  a  preci 
pitate  or  vacillating  way,  we  might  properly  be  charged 
not  only  with  neglecting  our  own  reputation  and  inte 
rests,  but  with  sporting  wantonly  and  even  dishonoura 
bly,  with  the  vast  influence  that  Providence  has  entrust 
ed  to  us.  Such,  and  such  only,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is  the 


291 

pledge  which  we  may  be  supposed  to  have  given  to  any 
foreign  power.* 

Thus  far,  however,  no  disposition  has  been  shown  by 
the  government  to  deviate  from  the  track  which  was  en 
tered  upon  with  so  much  consideration  and  has  been 
pursued  under  auspices  so  favourable ;  nor  is  there  any 
reason  to  fear,  that  the  policy  of  the  nation  will  be 
marked  in  future  with  vacillation  or  uncertainty,  in  re 
gard  to  this  subject.  The  great  success  which  has 
attended  all  our  proceedings,  is  a  sufficient  guarantee 


*  As  respects  this  supposed  pledge,  the  President  of  the 
United  States  of  Mexico  remarks,  in  his  address  to  the  con 
gress  of  those  states,  at  the  close  of  their  last  session,  (May 
1826,)  that  the  memorable  promise  of  President  Monroe  is  not 
sustained  by  the  present  government  of  the  United  States  of  the 
Northland  that  the  compact  made  on  this  subject  has  been  broken. 
Every  one  who  knows  any  thing  about  the  matter,  knows  that 
no  compact  was  ever  made  upon  this  subject  with  Mexico,  or 
any  other  government ;  and  that  the  policy  professed  by  Presi 
dent  Monroe  has  been  constantly  pursued  ever  since,  and  never 
more  actively  than  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  ad 
ministration.  The  want  of  precision,  (to  say  nothing  of  grati 
tude  and  good  policy,)  exhibited  by  Mr.  Vittoria  in  this  part  of 
the  speech,  is  truly  remarkable.  The  same  defect  is  observable 
in  the  style  employed  in  mentioning  our  country,  which  the 
president  calls  "  the  United  States  of  the  North,"  instead  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  The  chief  magistrate  of  a  great  re 
public  ought  to  know  that  it  is  usual,  in  official  papers,  to  de 
signate  friendly  powers  under  the  names  which  they  assume, 
unless  it  is  contended  to  contest  them,  which  I  hope  is  not  the 
case  here.  After  borrowing  one  half  of  our  name,  it  would  be- 
hardly  fair  in  the  Mexicans  to  rob  us  of  the  other. 


292 

that  the  views  which  dictated  them  will  continue  to  pre 
vail  among  the  people.  Success,  though  an  uncertain 
test  of  merit,  is  a  pretty  certain  one  of  popularity  and 
favour.  Had  the  leading  part  we  have  taken,  in  regard 
to  Spanish  America,  involved  us  in  war  with  Spain, 
disturbed  our  pacific  relations  with  any  other  foreign 
power,  and  failed  of  producing  any  important  advan 
tages  to  our  southern  neighbours,  the  expediency  of  it 
would  have  doubtless  been  called  in  question.  But  when 
a  course  of  measures  which  has  placed  us  for  the  time 
being  in  the  commanding  position  of  the  leading  Chris 
tian  power,  and  aided  very  considerably  in  securing 
the  independence  of  Spanish  America,  has,  at  the  same 
time,  not  only  not  committed  the  tranquillity  of  the 
country,  but  has  actually  ameliorated  the  state  of  our 
foreign  relations  with  Europe,  and  been  applauded,  ap 
proved,  and  finally  imitated,  by  those  powers  with  whom 
it  is  most  important  for  us  to  be  on  good  terms ;  when 
these  splendid  results  have  been  obtained,  without  other 
loss  and  expense  to  the  nation  than  the  outfit  and  salary 
of  a  few  foreign  ministers,  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt 
that  a  policy,  which  has  been  so  eminently  successful, 
will  continue  to  be,  as  it  has  been  hitherto,  uncommonly 
popular.  Since  the  adoption  of  the  two  decisive  mea 
sures  upon  which  I  have  dwelt  in  detail,  no  others  of 
equal  moment  have  been  resorted  to,  because  no  occa 
sion  of  equal  interest  has  presented  itself;  but  the  go 
vernment  has  pursued  with  activity  and  steadiness  the 
line  of  conduct  which  these  leading  acts  prescribed. 
Immediately  after  the  recognition  of  the  new  American 
governments,  negotiations  were  opened  with  them  for 


293 

the  purpose  of  establishing  our  commercial  intercourse 
on  a  proper  footing,  and  have  been  in  general  attended 
with  success.  In  the  mean  time,  the  influence  of  the 
United  States  has  been  actively  employed  at  the  court  of 
Madrid,  in  endeavouring  to  bring  about  a  general  paci 
fication  in  America ;  and  with  the  leading  powers  of 
Europe,  in  urging  them  to  concur  in  these  endeavours. 
With  a  view  of  contributing  to  the  accomplishment  of 
the  same  great  object,  and  of  better  securing  our  own 
domestic  interests,  the  government  have  also  counselled 
the  Spanish  American  states  not  to  disturb  for  the  pre 
sent  the  existing  position  of  the  islands  of  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico.  For  instituting  and  prosecuting  these  nego 
tiations,  the  administration  has  been,  I  believe,  repre 
sented,  in  the  course  of  some  debate  in  congress,  as 
playing  the  part  of  a  busy  body  in  the  cabinets  of  Eu 
rope.  It  strikes  me,  however,  that  to  employ  the  in 
fluence  naturally  belonging  to  the  nation,  in  promoting 
its  honour  and  highest  domestic  interests,  in  aiding  the 
progress  of  other  communities  towards  the  attainment 
of  independence  and  liberty,  in  labouring  to  effect  the 
restoration  of  peace,  and  to  stop  the  effusion  of  human 
blood,  is  a  business  of  which  no  government  need  to  be 
ashamed.  It  strikes  me  too,  that  to  succeed  in  a  greater 
or  less  extent  in  many  of  these  objects,  without  commit 
ting  the  public  tranquillity,  and  without  expending  a 
dollar  or  a  drop  of  blood,  is  pretty  good  proof  that  the 
government  has  been  busy  to  some  purpose.  But  it 
would  be  hardly  fair  to  criticise  too  formally  these  little 
bursts  of  petulance  that  occur  at  times  in  the  progress 


I  294 

of  debate,  and  which  the  authors  themselves  would, 
perhaps,  in  a  cooler  moment,  be  the  first  to  disavow. 

The  last  measure  in  the  order  of  time,  connected  with 
this  subject,  is  the  appointment  of  ministers  plenipoten 
tiary  to  assist  at  the  congress  of  Panama.  Of  the  whole 
series  of  proceedings,  this  is  the  only  one  which  has  met 
with  opposition  from  any  party  in  congress  or  the  na 
tion  ;  and  with  all  the  respect  due  to  the  station  and 
character  of  some  of  the  persons,  who  appear  to  disap 
prove  it,  we  may  perhaps  with  safety  affirm,  that  it  was 
of  all  these  measures  the  one  least  open  to  any  plausible 
objection.  After  the  full  justification  of  it  afforded  by 
the  president's  message,  and  by  the  proceedings  in  con 
gress,  especially  the  report  of  the  committee  of  foreign 
affairs  of  the  house  of  representatives,  and  the  eloquent 
and  judicious  speech  of  Mr.  Webster,  it  would  be  en 
tirely  superfluous  to  enlarge  upon  the  subject  here.  The 
substance  of  the  argument  may  be  resumed  in  a  very  few 
words.  The  degree  of  importance  that  may  belong  to 
this  and  to  the  congress  of  Panama,  and  of  course  to  the 
question  whether  the  United  States  ought  or  ought  not 
to  be  represented  there,  was  and  still  is  uncertain,  and 
will  depend  upon  the  progress  of  events  in  Europe  and 
America.  But  however  this  may  be,  our  position  in 
regard  to  the  Spanish  American  powers  has  long  been 
settled  ;  and  whatever  may  finally  be  the  results  of  the 
congress,  it  was  not  so  much  a  matter  of  propriety  or 
expediency,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  we  should  be 
invited  to  assist  at  it,  and  that  we  should  accept  the  in 
vitation,  provided  that  our  known  and  standing  policy 
upon  this  subject  be  the  true  one.  If  the  system  of 


295 

friendly  relations  which  we  have  adopted  towards  our 
southern  neighbours  be  right,  then  this  measure  was 
right.  If  the  system  be  ill-judged  and  inexpedient, 
then  this  measure  was  of  course  inexpedient;  or  rather, 
the  proposition  of  any  new  measure  adopted  in  pursu 
ance  of  the  existing  system,  would  furnish  a  proper  op 
portunity  for  attacking  the  system  itself.  In  order  to 
prove  that  the  appointment  of  ministers  to  assist  at  the 
congress  of  Panama  was  wrong,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  prove,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  recognition  of  the 
independence  of  Spanish  America  was  wrong,  the  de 
claration  of  President  Monroe  wrong,  and  all  our  sub 
sequent  negotiations  on  the  same  subject  wrong.  It 
would  be  necessary  even  to  go  further,  and  show  that 
the  conduct  of  Great  Britain,  France,  Holland,  and 
other  European  powers,  who  to  a  greater  or  less  extent 
have  copied  our  measures,  has  been  wrong ;  that  all  the 
enlightened  men  at  home  and  abroad,  who  have  warmly 
approved  them,  were  wrong ;  that  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  who  urgently  pressed  their  adoption  on 
the  government,  and  have  stamped  them  in  like  manner 
with  unequivocal  marks  of  approbation,  were  wrong. 
If  all  this  can  be  made  out,  why  then  of  course  the  mis 
sion  to  Panama,  which  was  a  natural  consequence  and 
accompaniment  of  these  previous  and  most  decisive  and 
important  proceedings,  was  also  wrong. 

Is  this  nothing-  ? 

Why  then  the  world  and  all  that's  in  't  is  nothing, 
The  covering  sky  is  nothing,  Bohemia  nothing, 
My  wife  is  nothing,  nor  nothing  have  these  nothings. 
If  this  be  nothing. 


296 

Our  policy,  whatever  it  is,  must  be  all  of  a  piece  5 
and  there  is  neither  honour  nor  advantage  in  blowing 
hot  and  cold  in  the  same  breath.  A  general  reproba 
tion  of  the  standing  system  of  the  country  in  regard  to 
South  America,  was  therefore  the  only  tenable  ground 
from  which  the  measure  could  be  attacked ;  but  this 
ground  was  not  taken  by  the  persons  who  appeared  to 
disapprove  it ;  so  that  their  opposition,  whatever  may 
have  been  its  real  motive,  rested  on  a  false  basis,  and 
proved,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  ineffectual. 

There  is  little  danger  in  fact,  that  the  opposition  of 
this  or  any  future  day  will  seriously  undertake  to  ques 
tion  the  correctness  of  our  general  policy  in  regard  to 
Spanish  America.  It  was  adopted  under  the  urgent  re 
commendation  and  with  the  hearty  approval  of  the  whole 
people  of  the  United  States.  It  has  been  consecrated 
by  the  favour  of  the  wise  and  good  throughout  the  world, 
and  by  the  imitation  of  some  of  the  greatest  powers  of 
Christendom.  It  has  finally  been  crowned  with  com 
plete  success ;  has  given  us  a  higher  and  more  dignified 
place  among  the  nations,  materially  improved  the  state 
of  our  foreign  connexions,  essentially  aided  the  cause  of 
liberty  and  humanity,  and  the  interest  of  our  southern 
neighbours,  and  all  this  without  subjecting  us  to  any  ex 
pense  or  inconvenience,  or  involving  us  in  the  least  po 
litical  embarrassment.  If  any  person  or  party  were  at 
any  time  ill-advised  enough  (as  respects  their  own  in 
terests)  to  attack  a  system  adopted  under  such  auspices 
and  attended  with  such  results,  it  is  evident  that  the  re 
coil  of  the  weapon  would  be  more  dangerous  than  the 
blow.  The  proceedings  of  the  opposition  last  winter  had 


297 

perhaps  an  indirect  bearing  of  this  kind,  and  thus  far 
must  have  had  an  immediate  tendency  to  strengthen  the 
administration.  But  such  a  course  is  too  unpopular  to 
be  directly  and  systematically  pursued ;  and  we  may 
safely  calculate,  that,  under  all  changes  of  persons  and 
parties,  the  existing  policy  in  regard  to  Spanish  Ame 
rica  will  be  steadily  upheld,  and  will  long  constitute  the 
leading  principle  of  our  foreign  relations,  to  the  great 
advantage  of  the  country  and  the  signal  glory  of  its 
principal  authors  and  advisers. 


298 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence. — Death  of  Messrs.  Adams  and  Jefferson. 

DURING  the  time  that  I  have  been  employed  in  prepar 
ing  th£se  pages,  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  declaration 
of  independence  has  passed  over.  The  general  reflec 
tions  naturally  suggested  by  this  most  interesting  occa 
sion,  are  precisely  those  which  also  belong  to  the  scope 
and  subject  of  the  present  work.  To  survey  with  gra 
titude  the  goodly  heritage  which  has  been  allotted  us, 
the  honourable  position  we  have  been  called  to  occupy 
among  the  nations,  and  the  glorious  future  destinies  that 
seem  to  be  opening  upon  us ;  to  remember  with  filial  af 
fection  and  reverence  the  ancestors  to  whose  wisdom  and 
virtue  we  are  indebted,  under  Providence,  for  these 
blessings,  and  to  realize  the  solemn  duties  which  their 
possession  imposes  upon  us,  are  the  feelings  and  em 
ployments  suggested  by  the  day.  They  are  also  those 
to  which  I  have  successively  adverted  in  greater  or  less 
detail ;  and  I  should  therefore  not  have  thought  it  neces 
sary  to  devote  a  particular  section  to  the  commemora 
tion  of  this  anniversary,  had  not  the  extraordinary 
events  by  which  it  has  been  signalized,  made  it,  inde 
pendently  of  its  original  intrinsic  interest,  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  seasons  in  the  whole  period  of  the  his- 


299 

tory  of  man.  If  any  one  of  the  few  remaining  veteran 
patriots  who  signed  the  declaration  of  independence, 
had  been  called  to  a  better  world  on  one  of  the  anniver 
saries  of  that  day,  the  coincidence  would  have  been  re 
garded  with  justice  as  singularly  beautiful.  Had  this 
anniversary  also  happened  to  be  the  one,  which  by  the 
common  consent  of  the  world  is  always  marked  out  in 
reference  to  any  series  of  public  events  as  worthy  of  es 
pecial  notice,  and  has  received  the  auspicious  and  con 
secrated  title  of  a  jubilee,  we  should  have  thought  the 
accident  still  more  worthy  of  attention.  Again,  had  the 
two  most  distinguished  surviving  civil  fathers  of  the  coun 
try,  closed  their  long  career  of  honour  and  service  on 
the  same  day,  whatever  might  have  been  its  date,  the 
melancholy  interest  excited  by  the  circumstance  would 
have  been  mingled  with  a  sort  of  pleasing  wonder.  But 
that  the  day  marked  by  such  a  coincidence,  should  be 
also  at  once  the  anniversary  and  jubilee  of  our  national 
birthday,  is  a  thing  which  approaches  the  miraculous, 
and  which  we  should  not  have  believed  possible,  if  we 
had  not  seen  it  happen.  Such  a  close  was  indeed  suita 
ble  to  such  lives.  We  might  almost  imagine  that  Pro 
vidence  had  expressly  prolonged  the  old  age  of  these 
two,  patriarchs  beyond  the  ordinary  length,  and  dispos 
ed  the  termination  of  it,  in  order  to  distinguish,  in  this 
appropriate  and  unexpected  manner,  the  occasion  and 
the  authors  of  it.  To  think  of  mourning  over  such 
deaths  would  be  almost  a  mockery.  They  can  be  only 
viewed  as  the  height  and  consummation  of  mortal  glory. 
The  tears  we  shed  are  the  sweet  and  natural  flow  of  the 
deep  feelings  of  gratitude,  admiration,  respect,  and 


300 

love,  which  we  have  always  cherished  for  these  illus 
trious  men,  and  which  now  revives  with  new  force,  at 
the  moment  when  we  lose  them. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  merits  of  others,  it  is 
generally  admitted  that  Adams  and  Jefferson  were  the 
civil  fathers  of  our  independence.  Hancock  and  Henry, 
Samuel  Adams,  Dickinson,  and  their  associates,  executed 
the  labours  that  prepared  the  way  for  this  resolution ; 
Washington  and  his  military  coadjutors  sustained  it  in 
the  field.  Hamilton  and  Madison,  with  their  fellow 
labourers,  completed  the  work,  by  procuring  the  adop 
tion  of  the  federal  constitution.  In  all  these,  and  in 
every  other  action  of  our  long  revolutionary  struggle, 
and  our  subsequent  political  history,  John  Adams  and 
Jefferson  bore  a  leading  part ;  but  to  them  belongs  more 
peculiarly  the  honour  of  having  been  the  immediate 
authors  and  advisers  of  the  declaration  of  independence. 
This  was  the  decisive  act,  which  required,  no  doubt,  in 
order  to  produce  its  effects,  to  be  properly  supported, 
but  without  which  all  the  labours,  losses,  and  achiev- 
ments  of  our  fathers  would  have  proved  entirely  fruit 
less.  It  was  therefore  in  a  manner  an  epitome  of  the 
whole  revolution,  and  the  patriots  whose  influence  was 
more  particularly  exercised  at  the  critical  moment  when 
this  determination  was  adopted,  may  be  called  in  a  more 
literal  sense  than  any  others,  the  political  fathers  of  our 
country.  These  no  doubt  were  John  Adams  and  Jef 
ferson.  They  had  both  concurred  in  advising  the  mea 
sure,  and  were  both  of  a  committee  that  prepared  the 
declaration.  Jefferson  as  chairman  drafted  the  paper: 
but  in  these  cases  the  mere  writing  a  formal  instrument 


301 

is  a  matter  of  inferior  consequence,  and  his  agency  on 
the  whole  was  probably  not  more  effective  upon  this  oc 
casion  than  that  of  his  coadjutor.  He  affirmed  himself, 
at  a  later  period  of  his  life,  that  in  the  congress  of  that 
day  John  Adams  was  the  pillar  of  independence.  When, 
in  a  former  chapter,  I  attempted  a  feeble  sketch  of  the 
merits  and  services  of  some  of  our  revolutionary  wor 
thies,  I  found  myself  with  regret  restrained  by  the  de 
licacy  due  to  living  characters,  from  alluding  otherwise 
than  in  a  cursory  and  general  way,  to  the  two  (in  civil 
life)  most  distinguished  among  them.  This  objection  is 
now  removed,  and  I  venture  to  hope  that  a  more  de 
tailed  notice  of  their  characters  will  not  be  thought  out 
of  place  in  this  essay.  Ill-timed  it  can  hardly  of  course 
appear  at  such  a  moment  as  this. 

The  great  length  to  which  the  life  of  both  these  pa 
triots  was  extended,  though  diversified  throughout  with 
labours,  cares,  and  hardships,  that  are  generally  suppos 
ed  to  impair  the  vital  powers,  proves  the  native  vigour 
of  their  constitutions  both  physical  and  mental.  The 
hardy  Saxon  stock  has  in  fact  rarely  found  a  more  con 
genial  soil,  than  the  mountains  of  New  England  and 
Virginia.  President  Adams  seems  to  have  combined  all 
the  higher  qualities  that  distinguish  the  best  specimens 
of  this  noble  race ;  the  keen  sensibility  that  indicates 
genius;  the  strong  instinctive  feeling  of  moral  obliga 
tion,  which  we  understand  by  virtue;  and  the  high 
manly  spirit  which  commonly  accompanies  the  union  of 
the  two.  One  who  means  well  and  knows  that  he  has 
talent  to  sustain  his  meaning,  is  rarely  prone  to  the 
lower  arts  of  simulation  and  dissimulation,  which  to  him, 


302 

as  Lord  Bacon  has  it,  are  a  hindrance  and  a  poorness, 
and  which  were  at  all  times  singularly  foreign  from  the 
character  of  President  Adams.  To  these  essential  qua 
lities  he  added  indefatigable  industry,  the  pure  and  amia 
ble  graces  of  private  life,  and  a  free  and  cheerful  hu 
mour  that  always  threw  a  sunny  light  over  his  own 
prospects  and  the  feelings  of  all  around  him.  This  was 
a  character  which  would  have  ensured  its  possessor, 
under  any  circumstances  (not  wholly  accidental),  a 
happy,  useful,  and  honourable  life  ;  and  which,  if  occa 
sion  favoured,  must  necessarily  have  conducted  him 
as  it  did  to  the  highest  eminence  of  public  trust  and 
glory.  When  he  entered  the  w^orld,  the  professional 
career  was,  as  in  fact  it  is  now,  the  one  most  attractive 
to  generous  minds.  He  commenced  it  with  the  zeal 
and  industry  belonging  to  his  nature/and  was  rapidly 
rising  to  distinction  at  the  bar,  when  the  crisis  in  our 
relations  with  the  mother  country,  which  terminated  in 
the  revolution,  was  first  perceived  to  be  rapidly  ap 
proaching.  He  describes  himself,  in  one  of  those  charm 
ing  private  letters  which  he  addressed  to  his  friends  in 
his  later  years,  and  which,  if  published,  would  form  the 
most  interesting  portion  of  his  writings,  as  a  full  faced 
fresh  coloured  youth,  seated  as  a  listener  among  the 
junior  members  of  the  bar,  at  that  memorable  session  of 
court,  when  James  Otis  argued  the  question  of  the  writs 
of  assistance.  With  the  fairest  prospects  of  profes 
sional  advancement  and  its  consequents,  wealth  and  ho 
nour,  opening  before  him,  he  had  every  thing  to  lose, 
and  apparently  little  or  nothing  to  gain,  by  meddling 
with  the  business  of  revolution.  But  we  find  him  never- 


303 

theless,  with  all  the  higher  and  better  spirits  of  the 
time,  enlisting  heart  and  hand  in  this  great  cause ;  and 
contributing  most  powerfully,  as  an  orator,  writer,  and 
active  citizen,  to  its  success.  He  was  probably  the  most 
learned  politician  in  the  eastern  section  of  the  country. 
His  newspaper  essays,  and  his  treatise  on  the  canon  and 
feudal  laws,  evince  the  extent  of  his  researches  and  the 
depth  of  his  reflections,  and  did  much  to  fix  and  ascer 
tain  the  basis  of  positive  right,  upon  which  the  friends 
of  liberty  rested  their  pretensions.  Such  were  the  pre 
liminary  studies  and  labours  by  which  he  prepared  the 
way  for  his  entry  into  congress,  where  he  was  destined 
to  perform  the  most  memorable  act  of  his  life,  by  con 
curring,  as  a  leading  member,  in  the  declaration  that 
gave  a  national  existence  to  the  country.  Independence 
with  him  was  no  new  or  sudden  thought.  His  letters 
written  soon  after  he  left  college,  and  recently  publish 
ed,  prove  that  he  anticipated  even  then,  when  there 
was  no  appearance  of  any  serious  contention  with  Great 
Britain,  an  ultimate  and  not  very  distant  separation. 
Such,  it  is  understood,  was  the  tenor  of  his  conversation 
while  a  practising  lawyer,  when  the  idea  was  enter-  , 
tained  by  very  few,  and  when  the  open  avowal  of  it 
would  have  probably  been  dangerous.  To  this  great 
point  his  whole  efforts  seem  to  have  been  directed  after 
he  took  his  seat  in  congress,  and  he  was,  as  I  remarked 
above,  probably  the  person  who  did  more  than  any  other 
in  the  country,  to  determine  the  momentous  resolution 
of  the  4th  of  July  1776.  The  part  which  he  took  on 
this  occasion,  was  consonant  with  the  natural  boldness 
and  vigour  of  his  character,  but  had,  nevertheless,  not 


304 

been  determined  on  without  the  fullest  deliberation,  and 
a  perfect  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  measure,  and 
the  perils  which  surrounded  it.  In  his  letter  written  on 
the  evening  that  the  resolution  for  independence  was 
adopted,  and  which  has  since  been  repeatedly  published, 
he  predicts  with  prophetic  sagacity,  the  splendid  results 
of  that  memorable  day,  which  are  now  so  rapidly  realiz 
ing,  but  which  would  then  have  appeared  like  idle 
dreams  to  one  who  had  had  a  less  fearless  confidence  in 
the  truth  of  his  principles  and  the  justice  of  his  cause. 
He  pronounced  the  day  to  be  a  great  and  glorious  one, 
pregnant  with  rich  blessings  for  his  country  and  the  hu 
man  race,  and  foretold  that  its  future  anniversaries  would 
be  seasons  of  public  rejoicings.  Fifty  years  afterwards, 
this  venerable  patriot,  reviving  for  a  moment  on  his 
death  bed,  at  the  noise  of  the  celebration  he  had  thus 
predicted,  pronounced  it  again  to  be  a  great  and  glo 
rious  day.  His  dying  lips  declared  with  these  last 
accents  the  accomplishment  of  the  prophecies,  with 
which  his  faith  in  God  and  love  for  his  country  had  in 
spired  him  half  a  century  before.  There  is  nothing 
more  sublime  and  beautiful  than  this,  I  will  not  say  in 
poetic  fiction,  which  always  falls  below  the  majesty  of 
truth,  but  in  the  finest  passages  of  ancient  or  modern 
history. 

To  give  existence  to  a  mighty  nation,  is  a  thing 
which  does  not  happen  twice  in  the  course  of  his  life  to 
the  same  individual ;  and  the  part  which  was  taken  by 
President  Adams  in  determining  the  resolution  of  in 
dependence,  must  therefore,  as  I  have  said  above,  be 
regarded  as  the  most  important  act  he  ever  performed. 


305 

But  in  those  critical  days  it  was  not  the  custom  for  any 
one  to  rest  upon  his  laurels ;  and  the  performance  of  one 
important  act  was  only  a  prelude  to  the  undertaking  of 
another.  Soon  after  the  declaration  of  the  4th  of  July, 
President  Adams  was  intrusted,  in  conjunction  with  Dr. 
Franklin,  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Jay,  and  occasionally 
others,  with  the  conduct  of  our  negotiations  abroad,  and 
took  the  lead  in  this  important  branch  of  the  public  af 
fairs,  from  this  time  forward  till  the  close  of  the  war. 
The  success  of  these  negotiations  in  all  parts  of  Europe, 
viewed  in  connexion  with  their  extreme  delicacy  and 
difficulty,  is  the  best  commentary  on  the  ability  of  the 
agents.  The  parsimonious  and  wary  Dutch  were  per 
suaded  to  lend  us  money,  and  to  commit  themselves  to  a 
war  with  Great  Britain.  The  arbitrary  government  of 
France  was  prevailed  upon  to  contract  a  close  alliance 
with  a  cluster  of  infant  democracies.  Finally,  an  ho 
nourable  peace  was  concluded  with  the  mother  country, 
after  a  short  war  of  seven  years,  on  a  footing  of  recipro 
cal  equality  and  independence,  and  without  the  least 
sacrifice  by  us  of  pride  or  principle.  In  regard  to  some 
parts  of  the  last  negotiations,  it  is  understood  that  there 
was  a  difference  of  opinion  between  President  Adams 
and  his  illustrious  colleague  Dr.  Franklin,  which  was 
decided  in  favour  of  the  former  by  the  adhesion  of  Mr. 
Jay.  Both  no  doubt  were  right ;  that  is,  both  acted 
with  the  purest  intentions,  according  to  the  best  of  their 
belief  and  ability.  The  views  of  Adams  exhibited  the 
spirit  and  decision  which  always  marked  his  character. 
He  took  counsel  of  his  duties  rather  than  his  fears. 
Franklin  at  eighty  years  of  age,  was  cautious  and  wary : 

39 


306 

but  the  end  has  justified  the  boldness  of  his  colleague. 
Among  the  remarkable  passages  of  these  negotiations, 
may  be  mentioned  the  memorable  first  treaty  with  Prus 
sia,  to  which  I  have  alluded  in  a  former  chapter,  and 
which  will  hereafter  be  regarded  as  forming  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  public  law.  In  these  quiet  and  easy 
times,  we  can  hardly  realize  the  unremitted  labours  of 
the  revolutionary  patriots.  It  was  only  an  episode  in  this 
course  of  continual  exertion,  for  President  Adams  abroad 
to  cross  the  Atlantic,  and,  during  a  short  visit  to  his  na 
tive  state,  to  found,  in  conjunction  with  his  namesake 
and  kinsman,  Samuel  Adams,  the  constitution  of  Massa 
chusetts,  which  has  served  as  a  model  for  most  of  the 
others  throughout  the  union.  After  the  close  of  the 
war  he  resided  as  minister  in  England,  until  his  elec 
tion  to  the  vice-presidency  under  the  new  government. 
Accustomed  to  a  constant  exercise  of  his  highest  in 
tellectual  faculties,  President  Adams  took  advantage  of 
this  comparatively  less  busy  period,  to  engage  in  a 
course  of  literary  labours,  which,  with  the  studies  ne 
cessary  to  the  execution  of  them,  would  now  be  thought 
sufficient  to  occupy  the  whole  life  of  an  industrious  man. 
While  he  remained  in  England,  he  wrote  his  defence  of 
the  constitutions,  and  during  his  vice-presidency,  his 
discourses  on  Davila ;  both  works  distinguished  by  ex 
tensive  and  solid  learning,  an  independent  mode  of 
thinking,  and  the  most  correct  and  elevated  moral  prin 
ciples  and  feelings.  The  theory  of  government  de 
veloped  in  the  former,  which  supposes  that  the  only 
security  of  personal  rights,  lies  in  the  maintenance  of  a 
balance  between  two  or  three  distinct  representations  of 


307 

the  community,  though  ingeniously  and  learnedly  sup 
ported,  may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  somewhat  ques 
tionable.  The  objection  to  it  is,  that  it  seems  to  attach 
too  much  importance  to  the  mere  external  forms  of  le 
gislation  and  administration,  and  too  little  to  the  condi 
tion  of  the  people.  In  the  modern  and  more  generally 
received  doctrine  of  representative  government,  the 
condition  of  the  people  is  considered  as  controlling  the 
forms  of  legislation,  and  they  become  of  course  compara 
tively  unimportant.  There  are,  however,  some  high 
speculative  authorities,  in  favour  of  the  views  of  Presi 
dent  Adams,  particularly  that  of  Montesquieu,  the  mas 
ter  of  political  science.  He  appears  to  have  been  led 
to  adopt  them,  in  part,  by  a  natural  disgust  at  the  wild 
exaggerations  of  some  of  the  modern  political  writers  of 
the  continent  of  Europe,  and  the  defence  was,  in  fact, 
intended  in  the  first  instance,  as  an  answer  to, a  tract  by 
the  Abbe  de  Mably,  in  which  some  of  the  crude  notions 
then  current  were  as  crudely  applied  to  our  institutions. 
The  discourses  on  Davila  are  written  in  the  manner  of 
MachiavePs  celebrated  discourses  of  the  first  decade  of 
Livy ;  and  the  subject  is  not  less  important  and  inter 
esting.  Davila  was  the  historian  of  the  religious  civil 
wars,  that  occurred  in  France  in  the  sixteenth  and  se 
venteenth  centuries ;  and  perhaps  no  series  of  events  in 
the  modern  history  of  Europe,  offers  an  equally  fruitful 
field  for  philosophical  remarks  on  the  general  principles 
of  political  science.  These  works  of  President  Adams 
are  not  among  the  number  of  those,  which  by  the  nature 
of  their  subjects  pass  immediately  into  a  very  extensive 
circulation ;  but  they  have  been  generally  read  and 


308 

justly  appreciated  by  competent  judges.  In  the  esti 
mate  of  their  value,  the  partial  incorrectness  or  correct 
ness  of  particular  theories  is  of  little  consequence.  They 
will  always  be  recurred  to  as  the  honest  speculations  of 
a  powerful,  practised,  and  well-stored  mind,  upon  the 
most  important  subjects,  and  will  gradually  acquire  a 
classical  character.  Their  style  is  well  adapted  to  the 
matter,  being  perfectly  plain  and  unpretending,  and  at 
the  same  time  pure,  perspicuous,  and  for  the  most  part 
correct.  It  would  perhaps  admit  of  some  improvement 
on  the  score  of  point  and  polish.  In  these  last  respects, 
President  Adams's  mode  of  writing  improved  with  age, 
and  we  find  in  his  later  private  letters,  a  natural  and 
easy  flow  of  language,  and  often  a  poetical  beauty,  which 
is  not  observable  to  the  same  extent  in  his  earlier  pro 
ductions.  It  is  much  to  be  wished,  that  a  selection  from 
his  voluminous  correspondence,  may  hereafter  be  pre 
sented  in  print  to  the  public.  These  honourable  litera 
ry  recreations,  which  would  have  been  the  monopolizing 
labours  of  a  less  active  mind,  were  brought  to  a  close  by 
a  new  declaration  of  the  love  and  confidence  of  his 
countrymen,  which  called  him  to  the  head  of  the  go 
vernment,  as  the  successor  of  Washington  in  the  presi 
dency. 

The  period  of  his  administration  that  followed,  is 
perhaps  the  least  agreeable  one  to  contemplate,  in  the 
whole  course  of  his  long  and  busy  career ;  not  because 
his  measures  were  in  any  way  unworthy  of  his  charac 
ter,  but  because  the  country  was  at  that  time  distracted 
with  party  dissensions,  and  did  not  always  do  justice  to 
the  purity  of  his  intentions  and  the  manly  uprightness 


309 

of  his  policy.  As  president  of  the  United  States,  it  was 
his  lot  to  fall  on  evil  days,  when,  without  much  fault 
or  even  error  on  any  side,  the  wisest,  best,  and  greatest 
men  of  the  nation,  who  had  stood  by  each  other  like 
friends  and  brothers  through  the  whole  revolution,  were 
converted  for  the  moment  into  personal  enemies  and 
chiefs  of  opposite  parties.  I  say  there  was  but  little 
fault  or  even  error  on  any  side,  because  the  struggle  was 
in  fact  in  a  great  measure  about  foreign  interests  and 
foreign  affairs,  and  was  an  indirect  result  of  a  sort  of 
violent  crisis  which  then  agitated  the  whole  civilized 
world.  The  mistake  of  those  persons,  in  the  United 
States,  who  warmly  sympathised  in  the  earlier  move 
ments  of  the  French  revolution,  was  natural  and  excusa 
ble.  The  opinion  of  others,  who  viewed  them  with 
more  distrust,  and  of  whom  President  Adorns  was  one, 
does  not  require  to  be  defended,  because  it  has  been 
justified  by  the  event  and  is  now  universal ;  yet  this 
difference  between  opinions  sincere,  natural,  and  lauda 
ble  on  both  sides,  was  the  principle  of  the  bitter  exacer 
bation  of  parties  that  raged  at  the  precise  period  of 
Mr.  Adams's  administration.  He  was  individually  as 
little  implicated  in  the  merely  controversial  feelings 
excited  by  these  disputes,  as  perhaps  any  person  in  the 
country.  The  madness  of  the  French  authorities  made 
it  necessary  to  protect  our  commerce  by  an  armed  force ; 
but  so  far  was  the  president  from  entering  into  this 
quasi  war  with  any  sort  of  political  feeling,  that  he  gave 
offence  to  some  of  his  more  zealous  counsellors,  by  the 
readiness  with  which  he  availed  himself  of  an  opening 
for  the  adjustment  of  the  difficulty,  afforded  by  some 


310 

changes  in  the  government  of  France.  By  the  effect 
of  the  party  dissensions  and  prejudices  which  then  pre 
vailed,  he  was,  however,  not  re-elected  to  the  presi 
dency  ;  but  he  left  the  office  with  unsullied  reputation. 
The  idle  clamour  which  was  raised  against  one  or  two 
of  his  measures,  is  now  forgotten,  and  it  is  generally 
admitted,  that  he  displayed  throughout  the  fearless  and 
manly  vigour  which  had  always  belonged  to  his  cha 
racter,  and  well  understood  the  true  policy  of  the  coun 
try.  We  owe  to  him  the  creation  of  the  navy,  at  one 
time  obnoxious  to  a  part  of  the  public,  but  now  univer 
sally  and  justly  a  favourite  with  all.  This  single  mea 
sure  would  alone  be  sufficient,  independent  of  all  his 
other  services,  to  entitle  him  to  the  lasting  gratitude  of 
his  country.  The  indiscretion  of  some  of  those  who 
were  or  should  have  been  his  political  friends  and  sup 
porters,  probably  did  more  than  any  errors  of  his  own, 
to  give  to  his  administration  a  temporary  aspect  of  ill- 
success.  It  will  not  be  regarded  hereafter  as  one  of  the 
least  remarkable  in  the  annals  of  our  government.  The 
judicious  biographer  of  Washington  has  done  much  to 
rectify  the  errors  that  were  formerly  entertained  by 
some  on  this  subject.  Time  and  the  progress  of  events 
have  done  still  more;  and  the  future  historian  wrill  com 
plete  the  work.  The  friends  of  President  Adams  may 
leave  it  to  him  with  undoubting  confidence. 

The  long  interval  of  twenty-five  years,  which  elapsed 
between  the  close  of  President  Adams's  administration 
and  his  death,  was  passed  in  a  dignified  and  studious 
retirement,  and  was  probably  one  of  the  happiest  pe 
riods  of  his  life.  He  had  reached  the  age  when  the 


311 

busiest  spirits  are  willing  to  rest  from  active  labour; 
his  literary  taste  afforded  him  ample  occupation  of  the 
most  interesting  kind  ;  and  he  employed  much  of  every 
day  in  reading  and  epistolary  correspondence.  He  was 
uncommonly  happy  in  his  family  connexions.  He  saw 
the  prejudices  which  had  at  one  moment  been  excited 
against  him  giving  way  from  year  to  year,  and  found 
himself  surrounded  by  a  new  generation,  who  looked  up 
to  him  with  reverence  and  love,  as  a  political  father. 
In  this  generation  he  had  the  proud  satisfaction  to  find 
his  own  family  taking  an  honourable  lead,  and  to  see  his 
son  rise,  through  a  long  course  of  public  services,  to 
succeed  him  in  the  presidency.  These  interesting  events 
filled  up  his  last  years  with  new  and  most  agreeable 
emotions,  and  contributed  probably  to  preserve  unim 
paired,  to  a  very  extraordinary  degree,  his  intellectual 
and  moral  sensibility.  He  exhibited  an  example  of  dig 
nified  and  cheerful  old  age,  such  as  I  have  never  wit 
nessed  in  any  other  person.  His  health  was  perfectly 
good,  and  his  countenance  retained,  up  to  the  age  of 
ninety- one,  the  serene  and  fresh  appearance  that  gene 
rally  indicates  youth.  His  manner  remained  as  it  had 
always  been,  noble  and  commanding,  but  at  the  same 
time  uncommonly  easy  and  courteous.  His  conversation 
was  of  the  most  rich  and  various  character,  and  though 
dwelling  in  preference  on  high  and  serious  matters,  was 
always  in  a  cheerful  and  animated  tone.  He  was  well 
versed  in  polite  literature,  ancient  and  modern,  had 
studied  profoundly  the  great  subjects  of  religion  and 
government,  and  knew  how  to  impart  the  rich  fruits  of 
his  experience  and  researches,  without  assumption  or 


dogmatism,  and  in  a  perfectly  natural  way.  I  have  met 
with  no  person  of  any  age,  whose  conversation  was  of  a 
more  intellectual  cast;  and  with  none  whose  conversa 
tion  of  this  description  was  adorned  in  an  equal  de 
gree,  with  a  real  and  unaffected  urbanity  of  manner.  So 
venerable  and  interesting  was,  at  this  time,  the  appear 
ance  of  President  Adams,  that  I  have  sometimes  found 
my  eyes  suffused  with  tears,  by  the  mere  emotion  of 
being  in  his  company.  The  political  events  of  later 
years  came  so  nearly  home  to  his  own  family,  that  it  may 
well  be  supposed  they  were  as  familiar  to  him  in  all 
their  details,  as  those  of  any  other  period  of  his  life. 
But  his  attention  was  not  absorbed  by  these  most  inte 
resting  occurrences.  I  remember  to  have  conversed 
with  him  at  considerable  length,  a  few  weeks  after  the 
last  presidential  election,  upon  a  delicate  topic  connect 
ed  with  religion,  and  found  him,  at  a  time  of  life  when 
powerful  minds  are  not  always  exempt  from  supersti 
tion,  uniting  the  piety  of  a  believer  with  the  cheerful 
firmness  of  a  true  philosopher.  He  was  still  alive  on 
the  theory  of  government,  and  amused  himself  freely 
at  the  expense  of  the  English  radical  Major  Cartwright, 
who  had  just  before  published  a  heavy  work  on  the  Bri 
tish  constitution,  better  meant  on  the  whole  than  exe 
cuted  ;  and  he  sportively  challenged  me  to  an  argument 
with  him,  upon  the  merits  of  his  own  system  of  checks 
and  balances,  to  which  I  had  on  a  previous  occasion 
taken  the  liberty  of  proposing  some  objections.  Al 
though  his  sight. and  hearing  were  partially  impaired,  I 
left  him  with  a  full  conviction  that  his  mental  faculties 
were  still  in  full  perfection.  It  is  needless,  however. 


313 

to  multiply  proofs  of  this,  since  the  public  letters  which 
he  continued  to  write  till  within  a  few  weeks  of  his 
death,  and  even  the  last  words  that  moved  his  Jips, 
evinced  the  possession  of  entire  intellectual  and  moral 
vigour.  Such  was  the  serene  and  happy  old  age  of  this 
great  and  good  man.  It  was  the  fit  reward  of  a  life 
distinguished  throughout  by  industry,  temperance,  and 
every  other  public  and  private  virtue,  and  may  serve  as 
an  answer  to  the  querulous  moans  of  some  discontented 
souls  on  the  wretchedness  of  old  age,  and  of  human  life 
in  general.  The  last  fortunate  event  that  happened  to 
him,  was,  to  be  permitted  to  close  his  labours  as  he  did. 
We  may  well  apply  to  him,  with  the  proper  variations 
of  details,  the  remarks  of  an  elegant  Latin  historian 
concerning  one  of  the  patriots  of  ancient  Rome.  You 
will  hardly  find  in  any  person  of  any  nation,  age,  or 
rank,  an  example  of  equal  good  fortune ;  for  besides  the 
signal  success  and  high  honours  that  marked  his  public 
life,  besides  attaining  the  first  posts  in  the  government, 
distinguishing  himself  by  an  active  and  patriotic  oppo 
sition  to  the  enemies  of  his  country,  and  living  to  a  very 
extraordinary  old  age,  he  left  behind  him  a  flourishing 
family  at  the  height  of  reputation  and  success.  An  end 
like  this  should  hardly  be  called  death,  but  rather  a  joy 
ful  termination  of  life.  Hoc  est  nimirum  magis  felici- 
ter  de  vita  migrare  quam  mori. 

Of  Mr.  Jefferson,  whom  I  had  not  the  honour  of  per 
sonally  knowing,  I  must  speak  of  course  with  less  ful 
ness  and  detail.  He  too  seems  to  have  been  endowed 
by  nature  with  all  the  higher  mental  qualities,  and  his 
early  distinction  proves  the  exemplary  industry  with 

40 


314 

which  he  turned  his  talents  to  account.  He  must  have 
been  one  of  the  youngest  members  of  congress,  his  age 
being  about  thirty-two,  at  the  time  when  he  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  committee  for  preparing  the  declara 
tion  of  independence.  The  spirit  which  animates  this 
celebrated  paper,  and  the  vigorous  resolution  with  which 
its  author  had  directed  his  efforts  towards  the  promo 
tion  of  the  great  object  of  it,  from  the  time  of  his  ap 
pearance  in  congress,  evince  the  natural  energy  and 
firmness  of  his  character.  At  the  same  time,  these  qua 
lities  were  probably  tempered  in  him  with  a  larger  in 
fusion  of  policy,  than  they  were  in  some  of  his  distin 
guished  contemporaries,  and  this  circumstance  contri 
buted  much  to  his  success  in  the  world.  He  combined 
with  his  active  disposition  and  talents,  a  strong  taste  for 
contemplative  pursuits,  and  was  early  smitten  with  the 
charms  of  "  divine  philosophy."  Although  he  nowhere 
makes  in  his  published  writings,  an  ostentatious  or  im 
proper  display  of  learning,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  they  are 
the  productions  of  a  disciplined  and  studious  mind.  His 
notes  on  Virginia,  which  are  among  the  earliest  of  them, 
prove  that  he  had  already  explored  with  a  curious  eye, 
the  various  departments  of  intellectual,  moral,  and  phy 
sical  science ;  and  had  speculated  with  a  free  and  inde 
pendent  spirit,  upon  the  facts  that  fell  within  his  obser 
vation.  It  is  known  that  he  continued  through  life,  to 
devote  his  leisure  hours  to  these  delightful  recreations. 
His  range  of  study  included  not  only  the  great  subjects 
just  mentioned,  which  form  the  theoretical  basis  of  all 
knowledge,  but  also  the  subsidiary  branches  that  teach 
the  application  of  the  former  to  the  uses  of  life,  such  as 


315 

the  ancient  and  modern  languages,  and  mathematics 
pure  and  mixed.  He  descended  even  from  his  habitu 
ally  elevated  region  of  inquiry,  to  the  common  walks  of 
practical  labour ;  was  much  engaged  in  agricultural  pur 
suits,  and  proposed  himself  an  improvement  of  the 
plough.  He  was  curious  in  short  with  regard  to  every 
part  of  useful  or  elegant  learning,  and  nothing  that 
seemed  likely  to  contribute  to  the  general  good  escap 
ed  his  attention.  He  also  possessed  a  strong  taste  for 
the  fine  arts,  and  is  said  to  have  lived  much,  while 
abroad,  in  the  society  of  the  eminent  artists  of  Europe. 
His  style  of  writing,  though  not  a  perfect  model,  is  more 
correct  and  elegant  than  that  of  any  contemporary 
statesman,  and  has  more  of  the  point  and  precision  that 
mark  the  manner  of  a  close  thinker.  The  stores  of  va 
rious  knowledge,  with  which  he  had  stocked  his  memo 
ry,  gave  a  rich  fulness  to  his  thoughts,  even  of  mere 
matters  of  business  ;  and  we  see  through  the  lucid  cur 
rent  of  his  language,  the  beds  of  gold  over  which  it 
flows.  As  one  star  differeth  from  another  in  glory,  we 
may  admit  without  injustice  to  their  fame,  that  the  dif 
ferent  revolutionary  worthies  possessed,  each  in  a  high 
er  degree  than  the  rest,  some  peculiar  excellence ;  and 
it  will  probably  be  noted  hereafter,  as  the  distinctive 
merit  of  Jefferson,  that,  next  to  Franklin,  he  was  the 
most  philosophical  statesman  of  this  illustrious  group. 
This  quality  has  in  fact  been  assigned  him,  by  the  ge 
neral  consent  of  his  enemies  as  well  as  friends ;  the  for 
mer  having  commonly  reproached  him  with  a  too  strong 
inclination  to  act  upon  abstract  theories,  which  is  only 
an  unfavourable  form  of  stating  the  same  trait  of  cha- 
pacter.  It  will  probably  be  found,  if  (to  use  a  common 


316 

phrase)  we  come  to  the  rights  of  the  matter,  that  philo 
sophy  (as  Voltaire  said  of  wit)  does  no  harm  even  in 
business.  Plato,  we  know,  affirmed,  that  men  would 
never  be  properly  governed,  until  kings  became  phi 
losophers,  or  philosophers  kings. 

The  most  important  act  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
as  in  that  of  President  Adams,  was  the  part  he  took  in 
determining  the  declaration  of  independence ;  and  if 
Adams,  on  account  of  his  more  advanced  age,  and  the 
remarkable  energy  of  his  character,  had  probably  more 
substantial  influence  than  any  other  person  in  bringing 
about  this  event,  it  was  the  fortune  of  Jefferson  to  con 
nect  his  name  with  it  in  a  very  particular  way,  by  being 
called  upon  to  write  the  document  which  published  it 
to  the  world.  It  is  no  doubt  true,  that  the  substance  of 
such  a  paper  is  given  by  the  occasion,  and  that  the  mere 
merit  of  clothing  it,  however  fitly,  in  words,  is  one  of  a 
comparatively  inferior  order ;  but  it  is  one  of  those  me 
rits  of  inferior  order,  which  contribute  materially  to 
wards  bringing  into  public  notice  other  and  loftier  ones. 
The  patriotism,  energy,  and  substantial  talent  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  were  much  higher  qualities  than  his  skill  in 
composition ;  but  this  latter  talent,  (the  one  that  proba 
bly  marked  him  out  as  the  chairman  of  the  committee,) 
gave  him,  on  this  great  occasion,  a  place  apart,  and  in 
some  degree  more  conspicuous  than  that  of  any  other 
member  of  congress,  which  will  constitute  for  ever  a  sin 
gular  title  of  honour.  The  propriety  with  which  the 
instrument  is  drawn,  fully  justified  the  choice  of  the 
writer.  It  is  wholly  free  from  the  noisy  flourish  or  fan 
faronade,  which  a  vulgar  pen  would  have  run  into  at 
once.  It  commences  with  a  simple  statement  of  a  few 


317 

incontestable  general  principles,  proceeds  to  recapitu 
late  in  plain  language  the  wrongs  of  the  country,  and 
ends  with  a  firm  declaration  of  the  great  fact  which  it 
was  mainly  intended  to  announce.  The  form  of  the 
paper  is,  therefore,  as  it  was  highly  important  that  it 
should  be,  perfectly  suited  to  the  substance ;  but  it  is 
not  in  the  choice  of  words  or  contexture  of  phrases,  that 
we  are  to  look  for  the  real  essence  of  this  unique  docu 
ment.  Its  true  value  lies  in  that  it  is  the  written  con 
temporary  record  of  the  event  which  it  published,  and 
which,  according  to  a  high  European  authority,  quoted 
in  a  preceding  chapter,  opened  a  new  era  in  the  history 
of  the  world.  As  this  era  advances,  and  as  the  import 
ance  of  it  is  more  and  more  distinctly  perceived,  the 
circumstances  that  marked  its  commencement  will  be 
come  constantly  more  and  more  interesting.  If  our 
hopes  are  realized,  the  declaration  of  independence  will 
be  acknowledged  hereafter  throughout  the  world,  as 
the  great  charter  of  human  liberty  and  happiness.  To 
have  been  called  to  write  such  a  paper,  was  a  piece  of 
good  fortune,  which  could  only  have  happened  to  a 
truly  great  man,  and  it  is  one  which  a  truly  good  man 
need  not  be  ashamed  to  envy. 

While  the  war  lasted,  Mr.  Jefferson  was  constantly 
employed  in  the  most  important  duties.  He  appears  to 
have  preferred  such  as  required  his  presence  in  the 
country,  and  is  understood  to  have  refused  a  foreign 
mission ;  but  when  Dr.  Franklin  returned  from  France, 
after  the  peace,  Mr.  Jefferson  consented  to  take  his 
place.  The  occupation  of  our  diplomatic  agents  were 
now  less  urgent  and  complicated  than  they  had  been, 
and  left  them  more  at  leisure  for  the  observation  of  pas- 


sing  events,  and  for  miscellaneous  pursuits  and  studies. 
The  philosophical  habits  of  Mr.  Jefferson  enabled  him 
to  employ,  with  great  profit,  the  time  which  he  passed 
at  Paris,  in  extending  his  knowledge  and  cultivating  his 
taste.  It  has  been  thought  by  some,  that  his  views  on 
speculative  subjects  were  unfavourably  modified,  by  the 
effect  of  his  association  with  the  literary  men  of  the 
continent  of  Europe ;  but  I  am  not  aware  that  there  is 
any  foundation  for  this  suspicion.  The  liberal  notions 
on  almost  all  important  subjects,  which  appear  in  his 
notes  on  Virginia,  a  work  published  before  he  went  to 
Europe,  as  they  could  not  well  be  improved,  do  not  ap 
pear  to  have  been  changed  for  the  worse.  He  has  been 
charged  with  irreligion ;  but  this  wanton  calumny  was 
a  mere  repetition  of  the  base  and  cowardly  attacks  that 
have  been  resorted  to  so  often  in  all  ages,  in  order  to 
shake  the  reputation  of  the  best  and  often  the  most  reli 
gious  men.  It  was  known  that  Mr.  Jefferson  sympathised 
warmly  in  the  early  movements  of  the  French  revolution; 
and  as  some  of  the  philosophers  and  statesmen  who  were 
engaged  in  them,  professed  a  loose  doctrine  on  religious 
and  moral  subjects,  Mr.  Jefferson's  enemies  made  no 
scruple,  though  without  the  least  shadow  of  evidence, 
of  imputing  to  him  all  their  errors.  This  artifice  is  too 
gross  and  easy  to  deceive  any  person  of  discernment, 
and  is  not  very  creditable  to  the  generosity  of  those 
who  resorted  to  it.  Mr.  Jefferson,  instead  of  being 
justly  obnoxious  to  the  charge  of  impiety,  was  probably 
one  of  the  most  sincerely  religious  men  in  the  commu 
nity.  Many  of  his  published  letters,  particularly  one 
addressed  to  a  Quaker,  that  has  often  been  reprinted,, 
breathe,  on  this  subject,  a  most  amiable  and  at  the  same 


319 

time  perfectly  orthodox  spirit,  which  cannot  have  been 
affected,  because  there  are  certain  tones  that  can  only 
come  from  the  heart,  and  which  no  dissembler,  however 
cunning,  can  imitate.  The  anticipations  which  he  was 
led  to  form  of  the  results  of  the  French  revolution,  were 
somewhat  more  favourable  than  the  event  has  justified  ; 
and  his  residence  in  France  may  have  contributed  to  the 
formation  of  these  opinions.  But  this  error  was  a  practi 
cal  and  not  a  speculative  one.  The  principles  of  the 
French  reformers  can  hardly  be  called  in  question  with 
propriety,  by  us,  because  they  were  substantially  the 
same  with  those  of  our  revolution,  and  had  been  learned 
in  fact  in  the  school  of  the  patriots  and  sages  of  ?76. 
As  respects  theory,  therefore,  Mr.  Jefferson  instead  of 
being  a  pupil  was  one  of  the  teachers.  He  was  the  au^ 
thor  of  the  code  which  the  national  assembly  were 
attempting  to  introduce  in  France.  For  him  to  approve 
his  own  principles,  and  take  a  warm  interest  in  the  pro 
ceedings  of  a  powerful  nation  labouring  to  reduce  them 
to  practice,  was  a  matter  of  course;  and  to  believe  in 
the  practicability  of  what  he  had  so  much  reason  to  wish 
and  to  hope,  was,  to  say  the  least,  a  very  natural  error. 
It  was  indeed  an  error  so  universal,  at  the  time,  among 
the  generous  and  enlightened  friends  of  liberty,  that  we 
have  more  reason  to  admire  the  extraordinary  sagacity 
of  the  few  persons  who  foresaw  from  the  very  first,  the 
fatal  termination  of  such  brilliant  prospects,  than  to 
wonder  at  the  contrary  opinion  of  those  who  anticipated 
nothing  but  good.  The  enthusiasm  which  was  felt  by 
Mr.  Jefferson,  was  almost  universal  throughout  the 
United  States.  It  was,  indeed,  no  trifling  motive  of  self 


320 

satisfaction  for  a  people  just  springing  into  life,  to  see 
their  example  imitated  by  the  greatest  and  most  cele 
brated  nation  in  Europe.  Clouds  began  to  gather  very 
soon  over  this  fair  morning,  and  innocent  blood  to  flow 
in  torrents  down  the  streets  of  Paris;  but  it  was  still 
by  no  means  certain  that  all  was  lost.  Many  good 
and  wise  men  indulged  the  hope,  that  these  were 
passing  troubles  incident  to  all  violent  political  changes, 
and  that  after  a  while  a  better  system  would  gain  the  as 
cendancy.  Others  were  now  convinced  of  that  which 
they  had  before  feared.  In  this  way  there  grew  up  a 
difference  of  opinion  upon  the  subject,  which  became 
soon  after  the  leading  point  of  controversy,  between  the 
two  political  parties.  Mr.  Jefferson's  feelings  still  in 
clined  to  the  favourable  side,  and  were  the  same,  in  this 
respect,  with  those  of  a  great  majority  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States  ;  so  that  his  error,  as  it  may  now  with 
out  hesitation  be  admitted  to  have  been,  was  of  the  num 
ber  of  those  indiscretions,  which,  as  Shakspeare  says, 
often  serve  us  well,  when  deep  laid  plots  do  fail.  The 
nature  of  his  sentiments,  in  regard  to  the  French  revo 
lution,  contributed  very  much  to  give  him  the  immense 
popularity,  which  first  raised  and  then  re-elected  him 
to  the  presidency,  sustained  him  in  so  remarkable  a 
way  through  the  course  of  his  administration,  and  con 
tinued  to  attend  him  up  to  the  very  close  of  his  life; 
while  the  sounder  views  of  Mr.  Adams  (as  they  are  now 
considered  by  all),  were  the  immediate  cause  of  his  tem 
porary  unpopularity  with  a  part  of  his  countrymen. 
The  presidency  of  Mr.  Jefferson  fell  on  times  as  easy 
and  tranquil,  as  those  immediately  preceding  had  been 


321 

stormy  and  difficult.  Our  foreign  relations  had  assumed 
a  favourable  aspect,  in  consequence  of  the  turn  of  affairs 
in  Europe.  The  bitterness  of  party  feeling  gradually 
subsided,  under  the  influence  of  the  great  and  growing 
popularity  of  the  government.  Industry  and  commerce 
flourished  beyond  all  former  precedent,  and  these  eight 
years  will  always  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  bril 
liant  periods  in  the  history  of  the  country,  as  they  also 
were  one  of  the  most  agreeable  and  prosperous  in  the 
life  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  At  the  end  of  his  second  term, 
he  finally  closed  his  public  career,  by  declining  to  be 
considered  a  candidate  for  re-election,  and  thus  crown 
ed  his  long  course  of  service  to  his  country,  by  an  act 
which  gave  another  beautiful  proof  of  the  truly  philoso 
phic  temper  of  his  mind.  Whether  this  act  was  as 
advantageous  to  the  country,  as  it  was  creditable  to 
himself,  may  well  be  questioned.  He  was  still  in  the 
vigour  of  his  faculties,  and,  as  the  event  has  proved, 
might  have  served  the  people  with  constantly  increasing 
usefulness,  for  two  or  three  more  terms.  The  repeated 
re-election  of  tried  public  servants,  under  such  circum 
stances  as  those  in  which  he  was  then  placed,  would  be 
favourable  rather  than  dangerous  to  liberty. 

The  life  of  Mr.  Jefferson  after  he  retired  from  office, 
was,  like  that  of  President  Adams,  not  less  happy  and 
hardly  less  useful  to  the  nation,  although  more  quiet 
than  the  preceding  portion.  He  returned  with  new 
ardour  to  his  favourite  studies,  which  occupied  in  the 
most  agreeable  way  a  considerable  part  of  his  leisure. 
His  house  was  habitually  frequented  by  guests  of  the 
highest  respectability  and  intelligence.  No  foreigner 

41 


of  note  visited  the  country  without  paying  his  respects 
at  Monticello,  and  it  became  to  his  countrymen  a  sort 
of  political  oracle,  which  was  resorted  to  on  all  doubtful 
and  important  occasions.  The  prejudices  that  had  been 
felt  against  him  in  times  of  party  dissension,  gradually 
subsided.  They  were  wholly  unknown  to  the  rising 
generation,  and  were  nearly  or  quite  forgotten  by  those 
who  had  once  cherished  them  with  violence.  For  years 
before  their  death,  he  was  in  habitual  and  friendly  cor 
respondence  with  President  Adams ;  and  the  letters  they 
exchanged,  many  of  which  have  been  published,  exhibit 
an  amiable  philosophy,  and  a  generous  forgetfulness  on 
either  side,  of  their  temporary  misunderstanding,  in  the 
highest  degree  honourable  to  both.  On  several  occa 
sions,  Mr.  Jefferson,  even  in  retirement,  exercised  a 
beneficial  influence  on  the  progress  of  the  public  affairs. 
When  the  British  commander  in  chief,  with  a  wanton 
and  insolent  contempt  of  common  humanity  and  public 
law,  burned  the  national  buildings  at  Washington,  and 
with  them  the  library,  Mr.  Jefferson  came  forward  in 
the  midst  of  the  momentary  consternation  excited  by 
this  shameless  proceeding,  and  revived  the  spirits  of  his 
countrymen,  by  reminding  them  that  it  was  only  a  cen 
tury  and  a  half  since  the  Hollanders  had  burned  the 
British  fleet  at  Chatham.  He  also  placed  at  their  dis 
posal  his  own  collection  of  books,  a  much  larger  and  bet 
ter  one  than  the  other,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
new  public  institution,  which,  if  properly  sustained,  will 
one  day  be  an  ornament  to  the  country.  During  his  last 
years  he  was  much  occupied,  in  conjunction  with  his 
friend  and  political  associate,  Mr.  Madison,  in  establish- 


323 

ing  the  university  of  Virginia.  The  service  rendered 
to  his  native  state  and  country,  by  his  labours  in  pro 
moting  this  single  object,  would  entitle  him,  indepen 
dently  of  all  his  other  merits,  to  the  lasting  veneration 
and  gratitude  of  the  people.  B[is  conversation  is  said 
to  have  been  in  the  highest  degree  rich,  various,  and 
instructive,  and  his  mode  of  entertaining  his  friends  at 
once  cordial  and  unceremonious.  Every  one  was  charm 
ed  with  his  unaffected  affability;  and  left  him  with  new 
respect  for  his  character  and  talents.  His  manner 
through  life  was  plain  and  easy,  rather  than  elegant, 
being  the  natural  unstudied  impression  of  good  feelings 
and  powerful  thoughts.  His  correspondence,  which  often 
found  its  way  into  the  newspapers,  presented  a  beauti 
ful  image  of  a  mind,  at  peace  with  itself  and  all  the 
world ;  full  of  charity  for  others,  and  actively  bent  in 
promoting  the  general  good  ;  looking  backward  with 
honest  satisfaction  on  a  well  spent  life,  and  forward  with 
cheerful  resignation  to  its  close.  I  have  often  thought 
and  remarked,  that  the  history  of  man  does  not  offer,  in 
any  of  its  proudest  passages,  a  spectacle  more  honour 
able  to  our  nature,  than  the  old  age  of  these  our  revo 
lutionary  fathers.  This  charming  picture,  which  ap 
peared  before  too  complete  to  admit  of  improvement, 
has  finally  received  a  new  and  as  it  were  supernatural 
finish,  in  the  almost  miraculous  coincidence,  which  we 
have  lately  witnessed,  and  will  hardly  in  future  be  sur 
passed  or  equalled. 

Compare  now  the  splendid  talents,  the  sublime  and 
simple  virtues,  the  ardent  and  unwearied  devotion  to 
the  public,  the  noble  disinterestedness,  the  blameless 


324 

youth  and  divine  old  age  of  these  men,  with  what  we 
know  of  the  politicians  and  generals  of  modern  Europe, 
at  their  best  estate;  and  say  whether  there  be  not  some 
thing  in  popular  institutions,  that  seems  to  favour  spe 
cifically  the  growth  of  public  virtue.  I  know  that  great 
and  good  minds  are  formed,  from  time  to  time,  under 
all  governments  and  in  every  part  of  the  world,  and  that 
the  continent,  from  which  our  fathers  proceeded,  was 
never  barren  of  these  celestial  fruits.  But  in  arbitrary 
governments  they  appear  like  exotics ;  and  we  look  in 
vain  through  the  history  of  absolute  monarchies,  even 
at  their  brilliant  moments,  for  the  traces  of  a  principle 
that  favours  the  formation  of  such  characters.  The 
heroes  of  the  great  Corneille  were  the  only  specimens  of 
Greek  and  Roman  virtue,  to  be  found  at  the  court  of 
Louis  XIV.  The  ante-chambers  of  Bonaparte  were  not 
overrun  with  Dewitts  and  Scipios.  It  has  been  in  fact 
established  by  Montesquieu,  as  an  axiom  in  political 
science,  that  public  virtue  is  the  natural  product  and 
essential  principle  of  popular  government.  The  hasty 
observations  which  I  have  hazarded  in  a  preceding 
chapter,  on  the  subject  of  our  institutions,  tend,  as  far 
as  they  have  any  weight,  to  support  this  theory.  It 
seems  in  fact  to  be  confirmed  by  the  experience  of  all 
ages,  and  no  period  has  ever  exhibited  a  more  striking 
illustration  of  its  truth,  than  is  seen  in  the  glorious  com 
pany  of  our  revolutionary  patriots.  The  examples  they 
have  left  us  will  surely  not  be  lost  to  their  posterity,  and 
if  the  theory  be  true,  the  institutions  which  they  found 
ed  and  bequeathed  to  us,  will  remain  a  fruitful  and  per 
petual  source  of  virtues  like  their  own. 


325 

The  death  of  these  two  fathers  of  the  country,  espe 
cially  considering  the  extraordinary  circumstances  under 
which  it  occurred,  naturally  revives  with  new  force, 
our  interest  in  the  events  and  characters  of  the  revolu 
tion,  and  has  reminded  me  of  a  wish  that  I  have  often 
felt  and  expressed,  that  there  were  somewhere  in  the 
country  some  one  spot,  consecrated  more  immediately 
to  their  memory.     The  place  that  I  should  choose  for 
this  purpose,  would  be  Mount  Vernon,  a  territory  well 
adapted  to  it  by  its  central  situation  in  the  union,  its 
vicinity  to  the  capital,  its  natural  picturesque  beauties, 
and  its  noble  position  on  the  banks  of  one  of  the  finest 
rivers  in  the  world,  but  especially  fitted  for  this  object 
above  all  other  grounds,  from  having  been  the  residence 
of  Washington.  It  has  sometimes  struck  me  as  a  sort  of 
profanation,  that  the  dwelling  which  was  made 'holy  to 
the  American  people,  by  having  been  the  scene  of  his 
earthly  pilgrimage,  should  be  afterwards  devoted  to  the 
ordinary  uses  of  life ;  and  without  intending  the  most 
distant  reflection  on  the  conduct  of  its  present  occupant, 
(whose  leisure  and  privacy  are  as  sacred  as  those  of  any 
other  individual,)  it  has  seemed  to  me  a  painful  thing, 
that  the  people  should  not  be  permitted,  at  all  times  and 
seasons,  to  come  and  pay  their  vows  in  perfect  freedom, 
at  the  tomb  of  their  political  father.     I  could  wish  that 
every  one  might  have  the  privilege  of  going  there,  and 
visiting  at  his  discretion,  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
house  and  garden,  and  meditating  for  hours  together,  if 
he  pleased,  in  the  most  retired  and  secret  places.    The 
public  good  would  be  promoted  by  it,  because  no  citi 
zen  could  return  from  such  an  expedition  without  find- 


326 

ing  his  patriotism  heightened,  and  his  best  and  purest 
feelings  encouraged  and  confirmed.  It  is  evident,  how 
ever,  that  the  people  can  never  enjoy  this  advantage  in 
its  full  extent,  while  the  property  belongs  to  any  single 
individual.  Some  restrictions  must  be  imposed  upon 
the  freedom  of  access,  and  the  disagreeable  scenes  which 
from  time  to  time  will  necessarily  grow  out  of  them? 
without  being  proper  occasions  of  blame  upon  any  one, 
should,  if  possible,  be  avoided,  in  regard  to  all  matters 
connected  with  the  memory  of  the  great  genius  of  this 
spot.  Independently  of  this,  the  very  civility,  the 
mere  presence  of  a  gentleman  on  whom  you  cannot  but 
feel  that  you  are  in  some  degree  intruding,  and  who  is 
probably  a  stranger  to  you,  is  a  check  upon  the  senti 
ments  which  the  scene  would  naturally  excite.  You  are 
conscious  that  you  ought  not  to  stay  too  long,  take  a 
hasty  survey  of  the  house,  walk  rapidly  through  the 
grounds,  drop  a  tear  perhaps  at  the  hero's  tomb,  bring 
away  some  little  relic  from  the  woods,  and,  with  a  still 
hungry  longing  to  pass  several  hours  or  days  in  this  di 
vine  retreat,  you  hasten  to  relieve  the  family  from  a 
situation,  which  by  constant  repetition  must  be  to  them 
fastidious  and  irksome.  Such  were  my  feelings  when  I 
made  this  pilgrimage,  although  I  had  every  reason  to  be 
gratified  with  the  attention  and  kindness  with  which  I 
was  received.  I  should  therefore  wish,  on  every  ac 
count,  that  Mount  Vernon  might  be  purchased  by  the 
people,  and  held  as  a  national  property.  This  arrange 
ment  would  not  only  be  advantageous  to  the  country, 
but  is,  in  fact,  required  by  common  justice  to  the  family 
of  General  Washington.  The  people  do  in  reality,  by 


327 

continually  resorting  to  this  place,  appropriate  it  to  their 
own  use;  and  although  they  cannot  have  the  full  enjoy 
ment  of  it,  while  it  is  occupied  as  a  private  residence, 
they  also,  on  their  side,  prevent  the  owner  from  making 
that  undisturbed  and  tranquil  use  of  his  property  which 
every  citizen  has  a  right  to  claim.  The  sacrifice  that 
would  be  necessary,  in  order  to  acquire  this  estate,  is 
too  trifling  to  be  mentioned ;  and  although  the  heirs  of 
Washington  must  of  course  set  a  high  value  on  his  patri 
monial  domain,  they  would  naturally  be  proud  and  hap 
py  to  cede  it  to  the  country,  for  the  honourable  purpose 
of  being  consecrated,  as  a  perpetual  monumental  ground, 
to  the  memory  of  our  revolutionary  patriots  and  heroes. 
I  repeat,  therefore,  that  I  should  desire  on  every  ac 
count,  that  Mount  Vernon  might  be  purchased  by  the 
people,  and  devoted  at  once  to  this  noble  object,  ^he 
house  and  grounds  should  be  kept  in  perfect  order,  and 
as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  same  state  in  which  they 
were  left  by  Washington ;  and  a  superintendant,  with 
the  necessary  assistants,  should  be  placed  on  the  spot  to 
attend  to  these  cares,  and  to  give  to  visitors  such  infor 
mation  as  they  might  wish.  When  the  house,  which  is 
of  wood,  should  exhibit  any  appearances  of  a  tendency 
to  decay,  it  might  be  built  over  (like  that  of  Peter  the 
Great  at  St.  Petersburgh)  by  a  stone  edifice,  imitating 
it  as  nearly  as  possible  in  its  exterior,  which  would  pre 
serve  it  from  the  weather  and  prevent  it  from  going  to 
ruin.  Within  the  house  should  be  placed  portraits  of 
the  heroes  and  patriots  of  the  revolution,  and  on  some 
elevated  spot,  on  the  grounds,  should  be  erected  an 
equestrian  statue  of  Washington,  that  might  catch  from 


328 

a  distance  the  view  of  citizens  coming  up  the  river  to 
visit  the  place,  and  serve  as  a  suitable  indication  to  them, 
that  they  had  reached  the  end  of  their  journey.  This 
might  be  regarded  as  the  monument  which  the  faith  of 
the  nation  has  for  years  been  pledged  to  execute,  for 
which  the  remains  of  Washington  were  obtained  from 
his  widow,  and  which  the  people  are  bound,  not  merely 
in  justice  and  patriotism,  but  in  common  decency,  to 
erect  immediately.  This  imposing  figure  towering  ma 
jestically  above  the  clumps  of  trees  that  adorn  the 
ground,  would  form  a  noble  object  as  seen  from  the 
river.  Every  ship  that  passed  would  strike  her  topsails 
in  honour  of  it,  as  the  mariners  of  Athens,  when  they 
entered  the  Piraeus,  on  their  return  voyages,  were  ac 
customed  to  salute  the  tomb  of  Themistocles,  that  stood 
at  the  head  of  that  harbour.  Within  the  house,  as  I 
observed  above,  might  be  placed  the  portraits  of  the 
civil  and  military  associates  of  its  great  proprietor.  In 
the  principal  hall  should  stand  his  own,  by  Stuart,  with 
that  of  his  aid-de-camp  and  confidential  friend  General 
Hamilton  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  the  fine  likeness 
by  Scheffer,  of  the  nation's  guest,  which  now  hangs  in 
the  hall  of  the  house  of  representatives.  Under  the 
latter  might  be  placed  the  key  of  the  Bastile,  which 
Lafayette  himself  presented  to  Washington,  and  which 
is  now  exhibited  in  the  outer  hall.  After  these  would 
naturally  follow  the  portraits  of  Knox,  Lincoln,  Greene, 
Lee,  Gates,  Morgan,  Sumpter,  and  the  rest.  Warren, 
the  young  martyr  of  Bunker  Hill,  should  obtain  a  con 
spicuous  place  among  them,  and  the  hero  of  Bennington 
should  not  be  omitted.  Another  principal  room  should 


329 

be  devoted  to  the  commemoration  of  those  who  served 
the  country  in  civil  life.  At  the  head  of  them  I  would 
station  Franklin,  John  Adams,  and  Jefferson,  with  the 
members  of  the  continental  congress  grouped  around 
them,  as  they  are  in  Trumbull's  picture.  On  their 
right  hand  should  appear  the  others,  whose  services 
were  most  conspicuous  in  the  earlier  scenes  that  pre 
ceded  the  decisive  action.  Among  them  would  be  seen 
the  open  face  and  manly  person  of  Samuel  Adams,  as 
represented  by  Copley,  in  the  fine  portrait  now  in  pos 
session  of  the  grandson  of  the  noble  proscript,  Mr.  Sa 
muel  Adams  Wells,  of  Boston,  who  would  readily  cede 
it  for  this  patriotic  purpose.  By  the  side  of  this  our 
more  than  Cato,  might  stand  Patrick  Henry  our  un 
taught  Demosthenes,  John  Dickinson  the  lettered  far 
mer,  and  James  Otis.  In  another  of  the  rooms  should 
be  collected  the  younger  generation  who  were  associated 
with  Washington  in  completing  the  work  of  the  revolu 
tion,  by  reforming  the  government  and  introducing  the 
present  federal  union.  I  would  have  here  another 
portrait  of  Washington,  in  a  civil  dress,  as  President, 
and  another  of  Hamilton  on  account  of  his  signal  ser 
vices  on  this  occasion.  Madison  and  Jay  would  of  course 
accompany  the  latter,  on  either  side,  and  after  them 
would  come  the  active  friends  and  supporters  of  the 
constitution  throughout  the  country;  the  cloudy,  care 
worn  countenance  of  Parsons,  then,  however,  a  bloom 
ing  young  man,  the  radiant  visage  of  Ames,  and  the  fine 
manly  features  of  Rufus  King,  with  the  others  their  fel 
low  labourers  in  the  various  states.  With  this  group  the 
list  should  close ;  for  I  would  not  make  Mount  Vernon 

42 


330 

a  Westminster  Hall  or  a  general  mausoleum  for  all  the 
illustrious  dead ;  but  would  devote  it  specifically  to  the 
honour  of  the  revolutionary  worthies  and  the  founders 
of  the  government.  The  merit  of  these,  as  respects  the 
country,  will  always  remain  of  a  singular  kind,  what 
ever  titles  of  honour  may  hereafter  be  won  by  others. 
In  the  military  hall  I  should  place  apart,  with  some  dis 
tinct  note  of  infamy  fastened  upon  it,  the  portrait  of 
Benedict  Arnold,  the  only  apostate  that  England  ever 
gained  from  our  glorious  cause,  as  a  sort  of  perpetual 
monition  to  future  generations  to  beware  of  treason ;  and 
in  the  civil  one,  in  like  manner,  that  of  Thomas  Paine, 
who,  after  rendering  some  real  service  to  the  cause  of 
liberty,  disgraced  it,  or  rather  himself,  by  a  scandalous 
abuse  of  sacred  things.  In  some  more  private  apart 
ment  should  be  united  the  portraits  of  the  family  of 
Washington.  This  interesting  gallery  would  at  once 
furnish  the  house  in  a  manner  suitable  to  its  high  desti 
nation,  and  concur  in  promoting  the  great  objects  of  the 
scheme.  The  national  flag  should  be  always  displayed 
above  the  building,  to  mark  it  as  public  property,  and 
the  estate  might,  for  purposes  of  jurisdiction,  be  con 
sidered  as  an  appendage  to  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  access  to  Mount  Vernon  under  this  arrangement, 
should  be  perfectly  free  to  every  one,  at  all  times  and 
seasons,  effectual  measures  having  been  first  taken  to 
prevent  disorder  and  injury  to  the  property.  Steam 
boats  should  rather  be  encouraged  to  land  passengers  on 
the  ground  than  dissuaded  from  it ;  and  the  place  should 
be  open  alike  on  Sundays  and  working  days,  for  no  more 


331 

pious  act  can  be  performed  by  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  than  that  of  signifying  his  respect  and  gratitude 
for  the  person,  who  was  raised  up  by  Providence,  to 
accomplish  the  deliverance  of  the  country.  Under  these 
circumstances,  the  resort  to  the  spot  would  probably  be 
much  greater  than  it  has  ever  been  before ;  and  it  would 
gradually  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  sort  of  sacred 
ground,  like  the  plains  of  Elis  in  ancient  Greece,  where 
the  Olympic  games  were  celebrated  at  the  end  of  every 
four  years.  Mount  Vernon  too  would  perhaps  be  made 
the  theatre  of  public  rejoicings,  upon  our  great  national 
festival.  The  citizens  of  the  neighbourhood  would  natu 
rally  meet  there  upon  that  occasion  ;  and  as  the  import 
ance  of  the  day  was  more  and  more  felt,  and  the  reve 
rence  for  our  political  fathers  went  on  increasing,  as  it 
will,  from  year  to  year,  it  would  not  be  singular  if  many 
of  the  most  respectable  persons  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  should  avail  themselves  of  that  opportunity,  (the 
season  being  favourable  for  travelling,)  to  visit  the  place. 
The  festivities  would  probably  be  continued  for  several 
days,  and  accompanied  by  devotional  and  literary  ex 
ercises,  poems,  plays,  orations,  and  other  entertainments 
of  all  descriptions.  The  drama  of  the  Greeks  grew  out 
of  an  annual  religious  festival,  which  lasted  four  or  five 
days  in  succession,  and  during  which  tragedies  and  co 
medies,  founded  in  the  history  and  manners  of  the 
country,  were  acted  without  intermission  from  morning 
till  night,  this  being  the  only  time  when  they  were  per 
formed.  If  we  ever  have  a  national  theatre  in  the  United 
States,  it  will  be  by  the  effect  of  some  such  institution 
as  I  have  now  hinted  at,  and  not  by  attempting  to  natu- 


332 

j'alize  in  our  cities  the  modern  European  drama,  the 
forms  of  which  are  as  foreign  to  our  habits  and  morals 
as  they  are  to  our  soil,  and  which  will  never  be  any  thing 
in  our  hemisphere,  but  a  paltry  and  contemptible  abor 
tion.     Here  too  some  new  Herodotus  might  perhaps 
read  to  his  assembled  countrymen,  the  (yet  unwritten) 
history  of  the  achievments  of  their  fathers,  and  of  the 
almost  fabulous  adventures  of  the  first  settlers ;  some 
modern  Pindar  restore  the  reputation  of  lyric  poetry, 
by  devoting  it  to  the  praise  of  heroism  and  virtue,  in 
stead  of  making  it  (as  it  has  generally  been  made  of  late) 
a  pander  to  vice.     Such  a  festival  as  this,  held  perhaps 
once  in  three  or  four  years,  would  produce  no  trifling 
effect,  in  maintaining  among  the  people  a  high  national 
spirit,  and  cherishing  that  principle  of  public  virtue, 
which  we  are  taught  to  consider  as  the  essence  of  our 
government.   On  the  birth  day  of  General  Washington, 
which  falls  about  the  middle  of  the  annual  session  of 
congress,  it  would  be  natural  for  the  members  of  that 
body,  and  of  the  executive  and  judicial  departments,  to 
suspend  their  official  duties,  and  commemorate  the  joy 
ful  occasion  by  visiting  Mount  Vernon,  and  by  per 
forming  there  such  solemn  public  exercises  as  might 
appear  to  be  suitable.     It  is  precisely  at  this  period  of 
a  session,  that  the  members  of  congress,  warmed  by  dis 
cussion,  fretted  by  contradiction,  and  probably  fatigued 
by  the  inconveniences  of  a  rather  uncomfortable  resi 
dence,  begin  to  lose  the  good  temper,  which  generally 
marks  their  proceedings  for  some  time  after  the  open 
ing.     I  am  apt  to  think  that  a  public  celebration  of  the 
22d  of  February  at  Mount  Vernon,  intervening  in  this 


333 

way  at  a  critical  moment,  would  tend  very  strongly  to 
keep  up  the  cordiality  and  cheerfulness  of  our  legisla 
tors  till  the  close  even  of  a  long  session  ;  and  this  would 
be  no  slight  advantage.  It  would  serve  to  check  many 
little  bursts  of  petulance,  which  their  authors  must  af 
terwards  regret,  and  which  do  no  honour  to  the  coun 
try. 

Such,  however,  is  the  plan  which  I  have  sometimes 
contemplated  as  a  suitable  method  of  doing  honour  to 
our  revolutionary  fathers  and  of  diffusing  a  national 
spirit  through  the  country,  and  which  has  now  been 
recalled  to  my  mind  by  the  decease  of  two  of  the  last 
survivors  of  the  number.  It  will  doubtless  be  pro 
nounced  visionary,  by  those  who  consider  every  thing  as 
such,  that  does  not  come  within  the  routine  of  daily 
usage.  I  confess  that  I  see  nothing  in  it,  either  im 
practicable  or  irrational ;  and  as  respects  several  points 
in  the  arrangement,  it  is  required,  as  I  have  observed 
above,  not  merely  by  considerations  of  a  higher  order, 
but  I  think  of  justice,  convenience,  and  even  common 
propriety.  The  expense  would  be  trifling,  the  advan 
tages,  direct  and  indirect,  of  importance.  It  belongs  to 
the  riper  and  more  practised  wisdom  of  our  enlightened 
lawgivers,  to  decide  whether  the  suggestions  I  have 
made  are  worthy  to  be  acted  upon. 


334 


CHAPTER  X. 

Conclusion. — Prospects  of  the  Future  Situation  of 
America,  and  its  Influence  on  the  Fortunes  of  the 
World. 

IT  was  a  favourite  and  much  disputed  question,  for  a 
considerable  time  after  the  discovery  of  our  continent 
by  Columbus,  whether  this  event  had  been  or  would  be 
on  the  whole  advantageous  to  Europe.  The  first  con 
sequences  resulting  from  it  were,  in  fact,  of  a  nature  to 
render  the  point  for  a  moment  at  least  extremely  doubt 
ful.  There  was  nothing  very  consonant  to  the  feelings 
of  a  humane  and  generous  heart,  in  the  conquest  of  the 
flourishing  empires  of  Peru  and  Mexico,  by  a  horde  of 
invaders,  much  below  their  inhabitants  in  real  civiliza 
tion,  and  superior  to  them  in  the  same  way  in  which  a 
vigorous,  well  armed,  and  remorseless  highwayman,  is 
superior  to  the  peaceable  citizen  whom  he  attacks  in 
his  house  or  in  the  street.  The  only  compensation  for 
these  horrors  was  the  supply  of  a  few  additional  articles 
of  luxury  to  the  sensualists  of  Europe,  and  even  this 
poor  benefit  was  more  than  neutralized,  by  the  impor 
tation  of  new  diseases  that  accompanied  the  cargo.  Had 
it  been  necessary  to  close  the  account  for  ever,  while  it 
remained  in  this  state,  it  must  be  owned  that  our  species 
would  not  have  been  very  deeply  in  debt  to  the  enter- 


335 

prising  Genoese  pilot,  who  had  given  a  new  world  to 
Castile  and  Leon.  But  even  then  it  was  not  difficult 
for  such  as  looked  a  little  below  the  surface  of  events, 
to  perceive,  in  the  discovery  of  America,  the  germ  of  a 
great  and  most  auspicious  change  in  the  condition  of 
the  Christian  nations,  and  ultimately  of  the  human  race. 
The  old  soil  of  Europe  was  occupied,  and  occupied  on 
principles  not  the  most  favourable  to  the  progress  and 
prosperity  of  the  inhabitants.  The  communities  among 
which  it  was  distributed,  had  established  themselves  in 
a  barbarous  age,  and  every  thing  about  them  was  more 
or  less  tinctured  with  the  vices  inherent  in  such  an 
origin.  The  division  of  property,  and  the  laws  that  re 
gulate  its  transmission,  the  great  social  institutions  that 
fix  the  rights  and  duties  of  citizens,  the  forms  of  govern 
ment  and  religion,  the  constitution,  in  a  word,  of  all 
these  countries,  was  the  work  of  unenlightened  heads 
and  rude  hands.  Organized  in  this  way,  and  crowded 
together  upon  a  comparatively  limited  territory,  the  Eu 
ropean  nations  were  engaged  in  constant  wars  which 
wasted  their  numbers  and  their  substance,  vitiated  their 
character,  and  withdrew  their  attention  from  objects  of 
real  importance.  To  reform  this  state  of  things  from 
within,  was  an  almost  hopeless  task.  The  vices  I  have 
specified  were  so  deeply  engrained  in  the  system,  so 
many  personal  interests  were  involved  in  the  mainte 
nance  of  them,  that  the  least  attempt  at  social  improve 
ment  was  little  else  than  a  signal  for  new  scenes  of  hor 
ror,  which  sacrificed  the  happiness  of  one  or  two  gene 
rations  without  effecting  any  considerable  good.  The 
most  remarkable  effort  of  this  kind  was  that  of  Luther, 


336 

to  correct  some  existing  abuses  in  the  forms  of  religion : 
and  this,  after  desolating  the  greater  part  of  Europe 
with  an  almost  uninterrupted  war  of  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  left  things  in  the  main  very  nearly  as  it  found 
them.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  had  it  not  been 
for  the  discovery  of  America,  the  Christian  nations 
would  not  probably  have  made  any  great  advances  in 
civilization,  beyond  the  point  at  which  they  stood  about 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  long  war  of  the  reformation.  They  would  proba 
bly  have  continued,  by  the  effect  of  a  sort  of  epidemic 
and  incurable  political  madness  resulting  from  the  vices 
of  their  institutions,  to  ravage  one  another  as  before, 
with  constant  wars,  until  some  one  military  state  should 
have  arisen  sufficiently  active  and  successful  to  subju 
gate  the  rest ;  and  which,  being  organized  on  the  same 
vicious  principles,  would  have  soon  settled  for  them  the 
question  of  the  possible  extent  of  human  perfectibility, 
by  bringing  on  with  great  rapidity  a  return  of  their  for 
mer  barbarism.  This  we  know  to  have  been  the  history 
and  termination  of  the  European  civilization  of  a  former 
epoch,  which  commenced  in  the  obscure  period  of  the 
fabulous  ages,  produced  in  its  first  stage  the  simple  arts 
and  manners  of  the  early  Italians,  then  displayed  the 
ripe  and  perfect  glory  of  Grecian  taste  and  Roman  vir 
tue,  and  beginning  soon  after  to  decline,  under  the  in 
fluence  of  vicious  institutions,  finally  sunk  for  ever  with 
the  ascendancy  of  the  Caesars.  The  repetition  of  a 
similar  course  of  events  in  modern  Europe,  was  proba 
ble,  as  I  have  stated  before,  on  general  grounds ;  and 
an  observer  who  confined  his  view  to  Europe,  might 


337 

perceive  even  now  strong  symptoms  of  a  not  very  dis 
tant  and  rapidly  approaching  catastrophe,  of  a  precisely 
similar  or  still  more  formidable  kind.  We  see,  in  fact, 
an  immense  military  empire  formed  and  forming  in  the 
north-eastern  quarter  of  Europe,  resting  its  rear  on  the 
boundless  regions  of  Asia,  its  right  flank  on  the  north 
pole,  and  its  left  on  the  deserts  of  Tartary  and  Turkey, 
and  from  this  inaccessible  and  impregnable  position  ad 
vancing  with  giant  steps  to  the  conquest  of  the  west.  In 
such  a  power  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognise  the  future 
master  of  Europe ;  and  if  the  ascendancy  of  Russia  does 
not  bring  with  it  a  return  of  barbarism,  it  will  evidently 
not  be  because  the  institutions  of  that  empire  are  model 
led,  at  present,  on  a  wise  and  liberal  plan,  (although 
they  are  perhaps  as  good  as  the  state  of  the  people  would 
admit,)  but  because  the  principle  of  civilization  and 
improvement  will  be  powerfully  sustained  by  aid  from 
abroad,  that  is,  from  America.  We  also  know  that  the 
progress  which  has  actually  been  made  in  civilization 
by  the  Christian  nations,  since  the  period  when,  as  I 
have  intimated  above,  it  would  have  come  to  a  stand, 
without  the  discovery  of  America,  may  be  traced  in  fact 
more  or  less  directly  to  that  event.  The  immediate 
cause  has  been  the  great  development  of  commerce  and 
industry,  and  this  in  turn  has  been  principally  owing  to 
the  spring  supplied  by  the  colonization  of  our  continent. 
The  discovery  of  America  furnished,  in  fact,  to  the 
friends  of  improvement,  the  point  d? appui  which  Archi 
medes  required,  in  order  to  move  the  world,  and  which 
seems  to  be  as  necessary  in  morals  as  in  physics.  With 
this  basis  to  rest  upon,  they  have  exercised  and  are  con- 

43 


338 

tinuing  to  exercise  a  most  favourable  influence  upon  the 
state  of  society  in  Europe  and  the  condition  of  our  race. 
Having  dwelt  at  large  in  the  preceding  chapters,  upon 
the  interesting  crisis  in  the  political  relations  of  the  two 
continents,  which  forms  the  principal  subject  of  the  pre 
sent  work,  it  only  remains,  in  order  to  complete  the 
plan,  to  describe  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  moral  in 
fluence  to  which  I  have  just  alluded.  For  this  purpose 
it  is  necessary  to  take  into  view  the  probable  future,  as 
well  as  the  present  condition  of  our  western  world.  The 
value  of  our  institutions  and  the  weight  of  our  example 
will  not  be  distinctly  felt,  as  long  as  the  whole  popula 
tion  of  our  continent  forms  a  comparatively  small  mass, 
and  while  we  remain  inferior  to  the  nations  of  Europe 
in  numbers,  wealth,  disposable  political  power,  and  the 
elegant  and  useful  arts  of  life.  It  is  by  observing  the 
rapid  development  of  our  resources,  and  the  point  to 
which  this  must  shortly  bring  us,  that  we  realize  fully 
the  immense  importance  of  the  discovery  and  coloniza 
tion  of  America  to  the  fortunes  of  mankind. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  in  the  probable 
future  as  well  as  the  past  progress  of  our  country,  is  the 
rapid  and  before  unprecedented  increase  of  population 
that  has  taken  place  among  us,  and,  without  some  unfa- 
vourajble  change  in  our  political  condition,  must  con 
tinue  for  centuries  to  come.  This  circumstance  is  at 
once  a  proof  and  a  principal  co-operating  cause  of  our 
extraordinary  prosperity.  That  the  source  of  the 
wealth  of  nations  lies  in  the  bone  and  muscle  of  their 
citizens,  their  true  defence,  not  in  batteries  and  fortifi 
cations,  but  in  high  minded  men,  are  doctrines  handed 


339 

down  to  us  from  remote  antiquity  and  generally  approv 
ed  in  all  ages.  It  remained  for  a  writer  of  the  present 
day  to  start  the  strange  paradox,  (which,  by  a  singular 
caprice  of  public  opinion,  was  for  a  time  pretty  univer 
sally  admitted  as  true,)  that  an  increase  in  the  numbers 
of  the  people  (excepting  in  some  peculiar  cases)  is  a 
public  misfortune,  and  that  it  is  the  business  of  a  wise 
legislator  to  check  population  and  not  to  encourage  it. 
It  is  generally  known,  however,  and  Mr.  Malthus  is  the 
first  to  admit,  that  labour  is  the  only  source  of  wealth. 
What  then  creates  more  wealth  or  capital?  why  of 
course  more  labour.  And  what  furnishes  an  addition  of 
labour?  clearly  the  increase  of  population,  which  in 
creases  the  number  of  labourers.  Again,  we  all  know 
and  freely  admit,  that  next  to  a  sufficient  supply  of  ac 
tual  labour,  the  most  important  thing  to  the  public  wel 
fare  is  the  division  of  it,  which  leads  to  its  proper  and 
scientific  application,  and  greatly  augments  its  products. 
Now  what  cause  produces  the  division  of  labour  ?  not, 
as  some  fantastically  suppose,  an  instinctive  disposition  in 
the  human  mind  to  truck,  barter,  and  exchange,  the  re 
ality  of  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  establish,  but  the 
increase  of  population,  which,  by  increasing  the  number 
of  labourers  in  proportion  to  the  work  actually  in  hand, 
enables  each  to  devote  himself  to  a  particular  depart 
ment  ;  and  thus  augments  at  once  the  quantity  and  qua 
lity  of  the  products  of  the  labour  of  all.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  the  increase  of  population,  instead  of  be 
ing,  according  to  the  singular  theory  alluded  to  above, 
a  principle  of  evil,  is,  in  fact,  the  great  natural  spring  of 
the  welfare  of  states.  It  is  the  immediate  result  of  our 


340 

strongest  instincts,  and  takes  place  every  where,  where 
the  benevolent  efforts  of  nature  are  not  counteracted  by 
the  effect  of  physical  and  moral  evil,  in  some  of  their 
various  forms.  In  proportion  to  the  rapidity  with 
which  it  occurs  in  any  community,  it  proves  the  ab 
sence  of  all  counteracting  causes  of  this  description ;  and 
the  unprecedented  augmentation  of  numbers  that  has 
been  observed  in  the  United  States  ever  since  the  for 
mation  of  its  first  settlements,  furnishes  a  splendid  com 
mentary  on  the  advantages  of  our  position,  even  under 
the  colonial  system.  These  advantages,  however,  did 
not  lie,  as  the  abovementioned  theory  supposes,  in  the 
facility  afforded  by  the  great  extent  of  the  territory, 
taken  in  connexion  with  the  original  scantiness  of  the 
population,  for  obtaining  by  labour  an  abundant  supply 
of  the  means  of  subsistence.  Labour  will  furnish  this 
any  where,  and  is  in  general  more  productive  in  pro 
portion  to4he  density  of  population,  because  more  skil 
fully  applied.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  finding  coun 
tries  where  labour  will  produce  abundant  fruits.  The 
difficulty  is  to  find  a  place  where  men  are  permitted  to 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  labour ',  and  this  was  the  signal 
distinction  of  the  United  States,  even  as  colonies.  This 
blessing  of  Providence  (for  it  is  one  and  nothing  else) 
will  turn  a  sand-bank  or  an  ice-berg  into  a  paradise  of 
plenty,  as  it  has  been  seen  to  do  in  Holland  and  Swit 
zerland  ;  and  will  make  the  wilderness  blossom  like  a 
rose,  as  it  has  done  with  us ;  while  without  it,  the  most 
fertile  and  delightful  spots  upon  the  globe,  the  environs 
of  Rome,  the  plains  of  Castile,  the  garden  of  Eden  it 
self,  are  first  depopulated  and  then  become  uninhabita- 


341 

ble.  This  was  the  great  advantage  which  we  enjoyed 
over  the  Spanish  and  Poi^uguese  colonies,  whose  terri 
tory  was  more  extensive,  more  fertile,  and  in  other  res 
pects  better  situated  than  ours,  but  whose  population 
was  probably  not  greater  at  the  moment  of  their  eman 
cipation  from  the  yoke  of  Europe  than  at  the  time  of 
the  conquest.  It  is  still  composed,  as  it  was  then,  in 
great  part  of  the  original  natives.  Ours  on  the  contra 
ry  has  gone  on  doubling,  about  once  in  twenty  or  five 
and  twenty  years,  ever  since  the  settlement  of  the  coun 
try  ;  and  since  the  declaration  of  independence  has  con 
tinued  to  advance  in  the  same  or  a  greater  ratio,  having 
probably  quadrupled  in  the  forty- three  years  which 
have  intervened  since  the  peace  of  ?83.  It  is  important 
to  trace  this  rapid  increase  of  population  to  its  true 
cause,  and  not  to  be  misled  by  the  vain  imagination  of 
mere  theorists  ;  because  it  is  in  this  way  only  that  we 
can  fully  appreciate  the  value  of  our  political  institu 
tions.  If  this  increase  (which  has  been  the  main  and 
immediate  cause  of  our  progress  in  wealth  and  power) 
had  been  owing  merely  to  the  extent  and  fertility  of  our 
territory,  taken  in  connexion  with  the  original  scanti 
ness  of  our  numbers,  then  our  form  of  government,  what 
ever  it  might  have  been,  would  have  had  nothing  to  do 
with  our  success.  Such  is  the  theory  of  Malthus,  in  its 
application  to  us  and  other  nations ;  and  the  same  doc 
trine  has  at  times  been  advanced  by  writers  among  our 
selves.  The  truth  is  that  our  form  of  government,  or  in 
other  words  our  liberty,  is  the  only  distinction,  which  we 
have  enjoyed  over  various  communities  in  every  other 
respect  as  well  or  better  situated  than  ourselves,  and  is. 


342 

therefore,  the  real  cause  of  all  our  prosperity.  To  sup 
pose,  with  many  European  statesmen,  that  these  institu 
tions  will  not  be  permanent,  precisely  because  they  are 
not  vicious,  or,  as  they  express  it,  that  they  are  too 
beautiful  to  be  practicable,  would  be  to  suppose  that  vice 
is  the  law  of  nature,  or  in  other  words,  that  evil  is  good 
and  good  evil,  a  heresy  expressly  condemned  by  Scrip 
ture  as  well  as  common  sense.  I  have  considered  this 
point  in  a  preceding  chapter,  where  I  have  attempted 
to  explain  the  nature  of  the  real  security  of  our  liberty; 
and  have,  I  trust,  succeeded  in  showing  that  it  is  a  per 
fectly  satisfactory  one.  Having  every  reason  to  depend 
upon  the  permanence  of  our  forms  of  government  for 
an  indefinite  length  of  time  to  come,  we  may  also  cal 
culate  with  confidence  upon  a  continuation  for  a  cor 
responding  period,  of  the  same  progress  in  population, 
civilization,  and  wealth,  which  has  hitherto  resulted 
from  it.* 

The  same  cause  which  has  produced  these  magnifi 
cent  effects  in  our  country,  but  which  has  not  yet  been 

*  The  principles  stated  in  the  text,  on  the  subject  of  the 
economical  effect  of  an  increase  of  population,  are  proposed 
rather  more  at  large  in  the  work  entitled,  New  Ideas  on  Popu 
lation,  ivith  remarks  on  the  theories  of  Godwin  and  Malthus,  by 
A.  H.  E-verett.  New  theories,  as  such,  are  rather  suspicious; 
and  it  may  therefore  be  proper  to  add,  that  those  ideas  are  only 
new,  inasmuch  as  they  differ  from  those  which  have  been  pretty 
generally  received  in  England  and  in  this  country  for  some 
years  past,  as  the  authority  of  the  popular  journals.  The  work 
of  Mr.  Everett  is,  in  fact,  a  defence  of  the  old  and  common  opi 
nion  against  a  modern  paradox. 


343 

in  operation  on  any  other  portion  of  the  continent,  will 
gradually  begin  to  display  its  efficacy  in  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  America,  and  may,  after  a  while,  lead  to  a 
progress  in  wealth  and  population,  similar  if  not  equal 
to  that  which  has  taken  place  with  us.  I  have  hazarded 
some  doubts,  in  a  preceding  chapter,  whether  the  insti 
tutions  which  have  lately  been  established  in  these  vast 
regions,  are  strictly  conformable  to  the  state  of  society 
and  the  character  and  condition  of  the  people.  If  they 
be  not,  they  cannot  be  permanent,  not  because  they  are 
too  beautiful  to  be  practicable,  but  because  no  form  can 
ever  long  subsist  without  a  corresponding  substance.  I 
have  even  ventured  to  raise  the  question,  whether  the 
legislators  of  these  new  nations  acted  prudently  in  seek 
ing  to  imitate  so  closely  as  they  have  done,  the  forms  in 
use  here ;  whether  they  had  not,  in  fact,  wholly  mista 
ken  the  proper  basis  of  their  system,  and  whether,  con 
sidering  the  state  of  property,  opinion,  and  feeling  in 
the  communities  which  they  were  called  upon  to  orga 
nize,  religion  ought  not  to  have  been,  for  them,  what 
liberty  was  and  is  for  us.  Events  that  have  occurred 
since  I  wrote  those  remarks,  in  the  republic  of  Colom 
bia,  which  was  previously,  to  all  appearance,  the  most 
secure  and  stable  of  all  these  governments,  seem  to  lend 
some  show  of  probability  to  these  ideas.  I  am  far  from 
wishing,  however,  as  I  trust  I  have  sufficiently  shown  in 
the  course  of  the  work,  to  indulge  in  sinister  conjectures 
respecting  the  future  prospects  of  these  states,  still  less 
to  give  an  unfavourable  view  of  their  present  condition. 
Their  independence  appears  to  me  to  be  established: 
and  I  ardently  desire  that  their  institutions  may  be  found 


344 

sufficiently  well  adapted  to  their  situation  to  go  quietly 
into  practice.  In  that  case,  they  need  not  wish,  nor  we 
for  them,  for  better;  as  our  own  experience  amply 
proves.  If,  on  the  contrary,  as  there  is  some  reason  to 
fear,  these  institutions  which  have  been  to  us  the  sources 
of  so  much  happiness,  should  be  found  with  them  to  be 
impracticable,  they  will  have  to  pass  through  another 
period  of  revolution  and  anarchy  before  they  attain  a 
settled  condition.  The  result  of  every  such  period  is 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree  accidental,  and  always  un 
certain.  It  might  end  in  the  establishment  of  vicious 
institutions,  and  thus  nip  for  ever,  in  the  bud,  the  bril 
liant  promise  of  these  young  nations.  To  anticipate 
this  would,  however,  be  to  look  unnecessarily  on  the 
dark  side  of  the  possible  future.  It  may  rather  be  hoped 
that  the  intestine  troubles  which  now  exist,  or  may  here 
after  break  out  in  these  countries,  will  finally  terminate 
in  the  introduction  of  the  best  forms  of  government 
which  circumstances  render  possible.  These,  if  not  at 
first  in  theory  perfect,  would  nevertheless  be  active 
principles  of  improvement,  and  by  gradually  ameliorat 
ing  the  condition  of  society,  would  prepare  the  way  for 
an  ultimate  modification  of  their  own  provisions  accord 
ing  to  some  superior  plan.  In  the  mean  time,  any  go 
vernment  founded  with  good  intentions  on  the  best 
practicable  principles,  would  secure  to  a  considerable 
extent  the  personal  rights  of  individuals,  and  would  thus 
lead  to  a  more  or  less  rapid  progress  in  national  wealth 
and  greatness.  The  South  may  therefore  be  expected 
to  follow  us,  perhaps  at  a  considerable  distance,  proxi- 
mm  sed  longo  intervallo,  in  the  brilliant  career  which 


345 

we  have  long  been  pursuing ;  may  also  advance  with 
rapidity  in  population,  wealth,  and  civilization  5  and 
establish,  as  we  have  done,  a  cluster  of  powerful,  pros 
perous,  tranquil,  and  well  governed  republics,  which 
may  add  their  resources  and  influence  to  ours,  in  giving 
political  importance  to  the  common  continent.  All  this 
is  yet  wholly  in  futuro,  or  very  partially  and  imper 
fectly  accomplished.  That  it  will  finally  be  effected,  I 
for  one  most  sincerely  hope,  and,  in  part  at  least,  be 
lieve. 

Although  the  remarkable  increase  of  population  that 
has  taken  place  in  the  United  States,  and  the  rapid  pro 
gress  in  wealth  and  civilization  consequent  upon  it, 
have  not  been  owing,  as  is  thought  by  some,  to  the  extent 
of  our  territory,  taken  in  connexion  with  the  original 
scantiness  of  the  number  of  the  first  settlers,  but  to  the 
nature  of  our  political  institutions,  nevertheless  this  im 
mense  geographical  expansion  is  one  of  the  most  import 
ant  elements  to  be  taken  into  view,  in  making  an  esti 
mate  of  our  future  condition.  Population  and  wealth  may 
increase  with  as  much  rapidity  upon  a  small  territory, 
as  upon  a  large  one ;  and  it  has  in  fact  so  happened,  that 
most  previous  examples  of  any  very  striking  results  of 
this  description  are  to  be  found  in  communities  of  mo 
derate  dimensions,  such  as  Holland,  Switzerland,  the 
Italian  republics,  Ireland,  and  England.  In  these  cases, 
the  misfortune  is  that  the  prosperity  of  the  society  is 
not  founded  on  a  sufficiently  firm  basis  to  be  secure,  and 
that  at  all  events  the  political  importance  it  confers  can 
never  rise  above  a  certain  point.  A  wealthy  and  popu 
lous  community  of  small  geographical  extent,  though 

44 


346 

stronger  in  proportion  to  its  territory  than  other  coun 
tries,  and  able  to  cope  with  a  somewhat  larger  but  less 
prosperous  state,  loses  its  advantage  when  the  dispro 
portion  becomes  too  great,  and  must  fall  if  attacked  by  a 
very  powerful  neighbour.  In  this  way  Holland  was  re 
peatedly  overrun  by  the  French  armies,  before  and 
after  the  revolution ;  and  in  this  way  England,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  extraordinary  resources  growing  out  of 
her  colonial  and  naval  establishments,  must  have  sunk 
under  the  overwhelming  masses  of  material  power,  at 
the  disposal  of  Napoleon.  It  seems  to  be  the  natural 
lot  of  small  and  wealthy  nations  to  sustain  repeated  as 
saults  of  this  description,  and,  after  parrying  them  a 
while,  to  be  crushed  at  last  by  some  one  more  terrible 
than  the  rest.  Thus  the  Greeks,  after  beating  off  the 
Persian  army,  were  conquered  in  succession  without 
much  difficulty  by  the  Macedonians  and  the  Romans. 
The  Hollanders  defended  themselves  triumphantly  for 
more  than  half  a  century  against  the  whole  strength  of 
the  Spanish  empire,  then  the  dominant  European  pow 
er,  only  to  see  their  territory,  almost  without  resistance 
on  their  part,  occupied,  as  I  have  said  before,  by  any 
neighbour,  France,  Prussia,  or  England,  that  chooses 
to  enter  it.  England  herself  had  hardly  time  to  breathe 
from  her  long  and  desperate  struggle  with  Napoleon, 
before  she  found  herself  threatened  by  a  still  more  dan 
gerous  political  Colossus,  which  must  finally  trample 
down  her  independence  and  liberty.  An  extensive 
geographical  basis,  with  the  material  resources  which 
accompany  it,  is  therefore  a  necessary  condition  of  na 
tional  security  and  greatness.  The  territorial  extent  of 


347 

every  country  is,  in  fact,  the  natural  measure  of  its 
wealth,  population,  and  political  importance,  and  fur 
nishes  in  connexion  with  the  form  of  its  government  the 
actual  one.  A  bad  government  will  reduce  an  empire, 
,  however  extensive,  to  comparative  imbecility,  and  even 
finally  break  it  up  into  fragments  and  ruin  it  for  ever ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  a  good  government  will  ele 
vate  a  small  state  above  its  natural  position,  and  may 
even,  by  enlarging  its  territory,  endow  it  with  a  lasting 
and  solid  accession  of  power.  This  was  the  process 
alluded  to  by  Themistocles,  when  he  said,  that  although 
he  could  not  play  upon  the  flute,  he  knew  how  to  make 
a  great  state  out  of  a  little  one.  The  concurrence  of 
an  extensive  territorial  basis  and  a  good  government  is, 
therefore,  the  principle  of  great  and  lasting  political 
importance.  If  the  view  which  I  have  taken  of  our  in 
stitutions  be  at  all  correct,  this  combination  never  exist 
ed,  in  any  other  country,  to  any  thing  like  the  extent 
in  which  it  is  realized  with  us.  With  a  territory  equal 
to  that  of  the  greatest  empires  of  ancient  or  modern 
times,  with  a  government  far  superior,  as  we  think,  to 
any  one  that  was  ever  tried  before,  unless  the  auspices 
under  which  we  have  entered  on  our  inarch  of  national 
existence,  should,  contrary  to  every  reasonable  anticipa 
tion,  prove  fallacious,  we  must  become,  and  that  at  no 
very  distant  period,  a  more  populous,  wealthy,  and  pow 
erful  community  than  any  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
Supposing  the  number  of  our  citizens  to  increase  as  it 
has  done,  from  the  first  settlement  of  the  country  up  to 
the  present  day,  (and  as  it  must  continue  to  do,  unless 
arrested  by  disastrous  political  events,)  it  will  amount 


at  the  close  of  the  present  century,  to  about  eighty  mil 
lions,  a  population  twice  as  large  as  that  of  Russia  at 
present.  By  the  middle  of  the  next  century,  it  will 
reach  three  hundred  millions,  and  will  then  be  equal  to 
the  most  exaggerated  estimates  of  the  population  of 
China,  and  much  exceed  those  of  later  date  and  more 
authentic  character.  Continuing  to  advance  on  the  same 
principles,  it  will  arrive,  in  less  than  two  centuries,  at 
the  sum  of  twelve  hundred  millions,  and  will  then  con 
siderably  exceed  the  present  estimated  population  of 
the  globe.  But  if,  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  exagge 
ration,  we  close  our  prospects  at  the  second  of  these 
periods,  we  shall  then  (in  less  than  eighty  years  from  this 
time)  possess  a  population  greater  than  that  of  any  single 
nation  ever  known,  and  nearly  twice  as  great  as  that  of 
all  Europe  at  the  present  day.  As  the  state  of  popu 
lation  is  the  surest  index  of  the  whole  economical  situa 
tion  of  countries,  our  advances  in  this  respect  will  be, 
as  they  constantly  have  been,  attended  with  a  propor 
tional  progress  in  wealth  and  prosperity.  The  imme 
diate  results  of  this  cause  are  a  proportional  increase  in 
the  number  of  labourers,  a  more  perfect  division  of  la 
bour,  and  increased  skill  in  the  application  of  it.  The 
general  result  of  the  combined  action  of  these  elements 
is  a  great  augmentation  in  the  quantity,  and  improve 
ment  in  the  quality  of  all  products,  or,  in  other  words, 
of  wealth.  The  same  cause  therefore,  to  wit,  the  good 
ness  of  the  government,  which  creates  the  increase  of 
population,  creates  a  corresponding  increase  in  wealth, 
and  will  make  the  nation  not  only  the  greatest,  but  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  the  richest 


349 

and  most  flourishing  on  the  globe.     If,  eighty  years 
hence,  the  population  of  the  United  States  should  be 
twice  as  large  as  that  of  all  Europe  put  together,  their 
wealth,  taken  collectively,  will  be  five  or  six  times  as 
great,  and  that  of  any  ten  or  twenty  millions  of  their 
inhabitants,  taken  indistinctly  from  the  mass,  will  be 
greater  in  the  same  ratio  than  that  of  any  corresponding 
number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Europe.  I  make  this  state 
ment  rather  to  illustrate  my  ideas,  than  to  give  an  exact 
account  of  the  probable  fact,  as  the  disproportion   in 
favour  of  the  United  States,  in  respect  of  wealth,  must 
according  to  any  reasonable  estimate  be  far  greater  than 
the  one  here  supposed.     The  high  degree  of  political 
importance,  which  our  country  will  possess  under  these 
circumstances,  may  well  be  imagined ;  since  the  politi 
cal  importance  of  a  nation  is  only  another  expression  of 
its  wealth,  population,  geographical  extent,  and  form  of 
government.     Superior  in  each  and  all  of  these  parti 
culars,   to  the  whole  European    commonwealth  taken 
together,  the  United  States,  at  the  close  of  this  centu 
ry,  will  outweigh  very  much  in  political  importance,  the 
combined  power  of  its  members  ;  and  instead  of  having 
any  thing  to  apprehend  from  their  injustice  or  violence, 
will  be  naturally  courted  by  them  all  as  a  useful  friend 
and  ally,  and  will  have  it  in  their  power  to  exercise  a 
most  beneficial  influence  upon  their  institutions   and 
policy. 

Such,  at  no  very  distant  period,  (since  it  is  one  which 
will  be  reached  by  numbers  now  living, )  will  probably 
be  the  economical  and  political  situation  of  our  country. 
But  in  considering  the  future  prospects  of  our  conti- 


'350 

nent,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  in  view  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  American  states  which  occupy  so  large  a 
part  of  the  surface.  These  also  are  all  possessed  of  the 
extensive  geographical  basis,  which  forms  one  of  the 
two  essential  elements  of  national  greatness;  and  if,  as 
we  may  venture  to  hope,  their  political  institutions 
either  are  already,  or  will  become  hereafter,  sufficiently 
solid,  and  at  the  same  time  liberal,  to  admit  of  a  rapid 
progress  in  wealth  and  population  among  their  respec 
tive  communities,  they  too  will  attain  very  shortly  the 
importance  of  the  greatest  nations  of  ancient  and  modern 
times.  It  can  hardly  be  anticipated,  from  present  ap 
pearances,  that  they  will  enter  immediately  on  a  career 
as  brilliant  as  that  which  the  United  States  have  long 
been  pursuing ;  but,  without  doing  all  that  we  have  done 
and  are  likely  to  do,  they  may  still  do  much.  If  Mexico, 
for  instance,  which  is  now  supposed  to  contain  about  six 
millions  of  inhabitants,  should  double  its  population  only 
once  in  forty  or  fifty  years,  it  would  still  be  equal  in  this 
respect,  at  the  close  of  this  century,  to  the  average  of  the 
first  rate  European  powers  of  the  present  day,  and  by 
the  middle  of  the  next  would  rise  to  the  level  of  Rus 
sia.  Colombia,  hitherto  a  leading  Spanish  American 
state,  is  much  inferior  to  Mexico  in  population,  and, 
just  at  this  moment,  is  somewhat  unfortunately  situated 
in  regard  to  its  government.  It  is,  however,  not  worse 
off  in  either  particular,  than  our  own  country  was  at  the 
close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  and  has  only  to  exercise 
the  necessary  wisdom  and  energy  to  ensure  success. 
The  same  remarks  apply  in  substance  to  the  others. 
There  is,  therefore,  reason  to  suppose,  that  in  the  course 
of  this  and  the  following  century,  the  American  conti- 


351 

nent  will  be  able  to  boast  of  possessing  several  nations, 
not  inferior  to  the  mightiest  power  of  the  old  world,  be 
sides  others  of  less  consequence,  and  one  at  least,  far 
exceeding  in  wealth,  population,  and  importance,  any 
other  body  politic  of  ancient  or  modern  times.  Such, 
on  a  very  cursory  survey,  are  the  probable  future  pros 
pects  of  America.  It  remains  to  notice  the  influence 
of  this  state  of  things  at  home  and  abroad,  or  in  other 
words,  its  effect  on  the  character  and  happiness,  first  of 
the  inhabitants  of  our  own  continent,  and  then  of  the 
world  at  large.  We  shall  then  be  able  to  realize,  with 
more  precision,  how  far  the  success  of  Columbus  has 
been  injurious  or  beneficial  to  the  fortunes  of  the  human 
race. 

One  of  the  first  and  most  certain  immediate  results  of 
the  rapid  progress  of  our  continent,  in  wealth  and  po 
pulation,  will  be  a  great  improvement  of  the  present 
state  of  the  sciences,  physical  and  moral,  and  the  modes 
of  applying  them  to  the  practical  uses  of  life.  This  is 
not  a  loose  conjecture,  founded  merely  on  some  suppos 
ed  connexion  between  political  prosperity  and  the  pro 
gress  of  knowledge ;  but  a  strict  deduction  from  acknow 
ledged  principles  applied  to  existing  facts.  The  imme 
diate  effects  of  the  increase  of  population  are,  as  I  have 
stated  above,  an  increase  of  the  number  of  labourers,  a 
more  perfect  division  of  labour,  and  an  increase  of  skill 
in  the  application  of  it.  Now  the  increase  of  skill,  in 
the  application  of  labour  to  the  practical  uses  of  life,  is 
in  other  words  an  improvement  in  the  theory  and  prac 
tice  of  the  physical  sciences.  This  improvement  is  one 
of  the  two  principal  means  by  which  the  increase  of 


352 

population  produces  the  favourable  effect  which  regu 
larly  follows  it,  in  the  condition  of  a  community,  the 
division  of  labour  being  important  only  as  it  leads  to  an 
increase  of  skill.  Hence,  when  we  see,  as  with  us,  an 
increase  of  population  working  out  its  natural  conse 
quences  in  a  great  augmentation  of  wealth  and  power, 
we  know  that  the  means  by  which  it  produces  these  ef 
fects  are  in  active  operation,  and  that  rapid  improve 
ments  are  steadily  going  on  in  the  theory  and  applica 
tion  of  physical  science.  This,  therefore,  is  not  an  ac 
cidental  but  a  certain  consequence  of  the  present  condi 
tion  of  our  country.  The  assurance  which  we  have  a 
right  to  feel  upon  this  head,  on  theoretical  grounds,  is 
also  fully  confirmed  by  experience.  The  singular  suc 
cess  of  our  countrymen,  in  mechanical  invention,  as  well 
by  discovering  new  principles  as  by  making  new  appli 
cations  of  such  as  were  known  before,  has  become  noto 
rious,  especially  within  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years. 
The  world  is  in  fact  indebted  to  us  for  a  very  large  por 
tion  of  the  important  theoretical  and  practical  advances 
that  have  been  made  within  that  time  in  physical  sci 
ence.  A  description,  in  detail,  of  what  our  countrymen 
have  done  in  this  way,  would  fill  volumes.  In  order  to 
be  aware  of  the  value  of  these  discoveries,  we  need  only 
recollect,  as  among  the  most  important,  the  creation  of 
the  science  of  electricity,  the  invention  of  the  quadrant, 
the  improvements  in  naval  architecture,  the  beautiful 
compound  blow-pipe  of  Dr.  Hare,  (claimed,  I  believe, 
like  the  quadrant,  by  some  poor-spirited  European  pla 
giarist,)  the  cotton-gin  of  Whitney,  the  century  of  in 
ventions,  each,  in  the  French  phrase,  more  happy  than 


353 

the  rest,  of  that  miracle  of  genius,  Jacob  Perkins,  from 
his  machine  for  cutting  nails  to  his  late  improvement  in 
the  steam-engine,  which,  should  it  ultimately  prove  to 
be  practicable,  will  put  a  new  face  upon  the  whole  bu 
siness  of  mechanics ;  and  finally  the  steam -boat,  that 
splendid  achievement  of  the  genius  of  Fulton,  which  has 
already  put  a  new  face  upon  the  internal  commerce  of 
the  United  States.  These  great  discoveries  and  im 
provements,  among  others,  serve  to  show  the  singular 
progress  of  skill  in  the  application  of  labour  that  has  taken 
place  among  us,  and  has  in  fact  given  a  sort  of  reputa 
tion  for  mechanical  talent  to  the  country.  It  has  been 
concluded  by  many,  that  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
possessed  as  such  some  peculiar  aptitude  for  this  depart 
ment  of  intellectual  activity,  a  position  which  it  would  be 
exceedingly  difficult  not  merely  to  prove  but  to  make 
intelligible.  The  truth  is,  as  I  have  stated  above,  that 
this  development  of  skill  and  progress  in  physical  science 
is  a  consequence  not  accidental,  but  natural  and  neces 
sary,  of  the  rapid  advances  of  population.  While  the 
cause  continues  to  operate,  (which  will  be,  unless  the 
government  be  changed,  for  an  indefinite  length  of  time 
to  come,)  it  is  a  matter  of  certainty,  rather  than  conjec 
ture,  that  it  will  continue  to  produce  the  same  effects. 
To  say  in  detail  what  these  effects  will  be,  or  in  other 
words  what  discoveries  will  be  made,  would  be  to  anti 
cipate  them.  The  importance  of  those  that  are  making 
every  year  sufficiently  proves  that  the  field  is  by  no 
means  exhausted,  and  furnishes  a  standard  by  which  to 
estimate  the  amount  of  the  contributions  that  may  be 
added  to  the  present  stock  in  a  course  of  centuries. 

45 


354 

As  respects  the  progress  of  moral  science,  of  which 
the  principal  branch  is  politics,  (because  the  nature  of 
the  government  determines  in  a  great  degree  the  mo 
rality  of  the  individual,)  less  probably  remains  to  be 
done.  If  at  least  there  be  any  correctness  in  the  views 
which  I  have  taken  of  the  subject,  in  a  preceding  chap 
ter,  our  institutions,  founded  originally  under  the  most 
favourable  circumstances,  and  gradually  improved  by 
the  effect  of  a  succession  of  fortunate  events,  may  now 
be  considered  as  conformable  in  all  their  essential  and 
important  points  to  reason  and  natural  justice,  or  in  other 
words,  as  perfect.  In  the  main,  therefore,  they  would 
admit  of  no  alteration  for  the  better.  In  some  compa 
ratively  minor  matters  of  practice  and  detail,  it  is  pos 
sible  that  useful  changes  may  be  indicated  by  longer 
experience,  and  whenever  they  shall  be,  they  will  be 
adopted  without  difficulty  or  danger.  Whether  the 
branch  of  sovereign  power,  which  regulates  the  modes 
in  which  the  laws  shall  be  clothed  with  the  sanction  of 
religion,  will  always  be  exercised  precisely  in  the  same 
way  in  which  it  is  now,  is,  perhaps,  as  I  have  hinted 
before,  a  matter  of  doubt.  The  general  question  res 
pecting  the  effect  which  will  be  produced  by  the  pro 
gress  of  knowledge  in  our  country,  upon  the  public 
opinion  on  the  subject  of  the  forms  of  religion,  is  in  fact 
extremely  curious,  and  far  from  admitting  of  a  very 
prompt  solution.  As  our  faith  is  founded  substantially, 
on  the  steadfast  and  immoveable  rock  of  truth,  the  ve 
neration  which  is  now  so  universally  entertained  for  it, 
will  probably  increase  rather  than  diminish ;  but  as  all 
the  forms  under  which  it  is  professed,  are  in  a  greater 


355 

'oir  less  degree  mixed  up  with  error,  they  may  be  ex 
pected  to  undergo  various  alterations ;  and  it  is  a  matter 
of  interesting  conjecture,  whether  all  these  forms  will 
continue  to  exist  and  flourish,  side  by  side,  as  they  now 
do ;  whether  any  one  or  more  of  them  will  obtain  a  com 
plete  ascendancy  over  the  others,  or  whether  all  will 
finally  give  way  to  some  new  construction  of  the  sacred 
record,  which  all  the  sects  receive  alike  as  the  common 
rule  of  belief  and  practice,  although  they  differ  so  in 
regard  to  its  meaning.  Will  the  Roman  Catholics,  who 
are  now  very  active  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  who 
have  lately  made  proselytes  even  in  the  heart  of  ortho 
dox  New  England,  who  have  their  College  of  Jesuits  at 
Washington,  and  at  times  their  deputies  in  congress, 
continue  to  advance,  as  they  fondly  expect,  until  they 
have  reclaimed  us  all  from  our  wanderings  and  gathered 
us  into  the  fold  of  holy  mother  Church  ?  Will  the  Uni 
tarian  doctrine,  which  has  lately  diffused  itself  so  widely 
among  the  better  educated  classes,  gradually  penetrate 
into  the  mass  of  the  people,  as  it  has  already  done  in 
some  of  our  cities,  and  finally  become  the  prevailing 
belief  of  any  considerable  portion  of  the  union  ?  or  will 
the  Church  of  England  successfully  counteract  this  opi 
nion,  even  among  the  wealthy  and  enlightened,  by  the 
effect  of  a  solemn  and  imposing  exterior,  and,  though 
hardly  at  home  on  any  foreign  soil,  retain  its  ascendan 
cy  over  the  minds  and  affections  of  many  of  our  most 
respected  citizens?  Will  the  uneducated  teachers  of 
various  names  persevere  with  as  much  acceptance  as 
heretofore,  in  attempting  to  explain  to  the  public  a  sub 
ject,  which  it  is  much  to  be  feared  they  scarcely  under- 


356 

stand  themselves,  however  truly  pious  they  may  often 
be  in  feeling  and  in  spirit?  Finally ,  is  it  possible  that 
from  the  midst  of  this  chaos  of  conflicting  sects,  some 
new  form  of  the  common  faith  may  ultimately  spring  up, 
more  consonant  to  the  real  sense  of  Scripture,  and  bet 
ter  accommodated  to  practical  uses,  than  any  now  exist 
ing?  These,  as  I  have  said,  are  interesting  questions; 
but  it  hardly  comes  within  the  scope  of  the  present 
essay  to  discuss  them  in  detail :  I  leave  the  inquiry  with 
pleasure  in  the  abler  hands  of  our  learned  and  exem 
plary  clergy  of  all  opinions.  Among  the  branches  of 
morals,  political  economy  is  one  that  will  probably  make 
advances  among  us ;  and  it  will,  at  any  rate,  be  em 
ployed  for  the  first  time  as  a  rule  of  public  conduct.  In 
ethics,  or  the  theory  of  private  conduct,  which  is  writ 
ten  by  nature  in  all  our  hearts,  there  is  little  improve 
ment  to  be  made.  The  great  point  here  is  to  prevail 
upon  the  people  to  do  what  they  know  well  enough  to 
be  their  duty,  and  the  strong  inducement  to  private  vir 
tue  held  out  by  our  institutions  and  position  is,  as  I  shall 
presently  state,  their  greatest  practical  excellence. 

Having  thus  stated  or  suggested  in  the  form  of  in 
quiry  some  improvements  that  may  probably  or  possibly 
be  made  among  us  in  moral  and  physical  science,  it  may 
be  well  to  mention  some  other  changes  occasionally  pro 
posed  as  improvements,  that  will  probably  not  be  real 
ized.  It  is  an  easy  artifice  with  the  interested  enemies 
of  the  progress  of  civilization,  to  accuse  its  friends  of 
enthusiasm  and  extravagance ;  and  it  must  be  owned 
that  the  language  of  the  latter,  however  well  meant  and 
honest,  has  at  times  given  countenance  to  the  charge. 


357 

I  will  therefore  add,  to  avoid  misconstruction,  that  I  do 
not  anticipate  with  Condorcet,  that  men  will  ever  be 
come  immortal  on  the  face  of  the  earth ;  with  Godwin, 
that  we  shall  learn  to  do  without  religion,  government, 
property,  or  marriage  ;  or  with  Mrs.  Godwin,  that  we 
shall  ever  introduce  a  complete  political  equality  of  the 
sexes.  I  do  not  expect  that  Mr.  Owen  will  Owenise 
the  United  States  in  five  years,  or  that  these  states  will 
ever  consent  to  be  codified  by  Jeremy  Bentham ;  nor 
do  I  believe  that  Captain  Symmes  will  turn  out  a  second 
Newton.  I  apprehend,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  term 
of  human  life  will  remain  as  heretofore,  at  the  ancient 
date  of  threescore  years  and  ten  ;  that  we  shall  keep  up 
the  old  relation  of  governor  and  citizen,  master  and  ser 
vant,  man  and  wife,  parent  and  child,  with  I  trust  a 
better  understanding  and  more  diligent  practice  of  the 
duties  belonging  to  them  ;  that  instead  of  throwing  our 
property  and  women  into  common  stock,  we  shall,  as  we 
advance  in  civilization,  employ  additional  skill  and  care 
in  administering  the  one  and  watching  over  the  other ; 
and  that  with  all  the  improvements  we  are  able  to  make 
in  our  condition  here,  we  shall  never  be  so  well  satisfied 
with  it,  as  to  lose  the  desire  and  hope  of  exchanging  it 
for  a  better  one  hereafter.  If  this  avowal  of  belief  and 
not  belief,  shall  be  considered  by  any  of  the  abovemen- 
tioned  persons  as  classing  me  among  the  adherents  of 
antiquated  prejudices,  I  shall  with  all  due  humility  un 
dergo  the  charge ;  and  cheerfully  relinquishing  all  pre 
tensions  to  any  share,  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
in  the  terrestrial  paradises  that  may  be  discovered  above 
rtr  below  the  surface  of  the  country,  and  within  or  with- 


358 

out  the  polar  verge,  shall  proceed  to  state  very  briefly 
the  effect  upon  the  character  and  happiness  of  the  peo 
ple,  of  the  less  magnificent,  but  still  not  wholly  contemp 
tible  changes  for  the  better,  which  I  have  indicated 
above  as  being  likely  to  happen. 

The  practical  effect  of  the  improvements  in  political 
science  that  have  been  already  introduced  among  us,  is, 
as  I  have  stated,  that  every  one  enjoys  the  fruits  of  his 
own  labour,  the  deductions  which  are  made  from  them 
for  account  of  government  being  too  trifling  to  be  taken 
into  calculation.  This  is  a  first  and  indispensable  pre 
liminary  to  any  favourable  change  in  the  condition  of  a 
community.  This  being  premised,  the  operation  of  the 
improvements  that  have  been  or  may  be  made  in  physi 
cal  science,  is  to  increase  the  comforts  and  abridge  the 
necessary  labour  of  all.  It  is  thought  by  some,  and  par 
ticularly  Mr.  Say,  that  the  effect  of  such  improvements 
is  merely  to  increase  the  total  amount  of  products,  and 
to  change  the  direction  of  labour  without  abridging  it ; 
but  this  observation,  though  true  in  certain  cases,  is  not 
universally  so.  The  demand  for  all  articles  of  real  uti 
lity  or  convenience,  is  limited  by  the  extent  of  popula 
tion  for  the  time  being.  If  the  labour  necessary  for  ob 
taining  these  articles  be  abridged  by  improvements  in 
physical  science,  one  result  will  be  the  application  of  a 
part  of  the  labour  thus  economised  to  the  making  of  new 
articles,  less  essential  perhaps,  but  still  useful,  conve 
nient,  and  agreeable.  In  this  way,  as  I  observed  before, 
the  comforts  of  life  will  be  augmented  for  all.  But  here 
too  a  limit  is  set  to  the  productions  of  new  articles,  by 
this  verv  consideration  of  increased  comfort.  Whenever 


359 

the  enjoyment  that  can  be  derived  from  an  additional 
ornament  or  luxury,  is  more  than  counterbalanced  to  the 
community  by  the  additional  labour  required  for  obtain 
ing  it,  it  will  cease  to  be  produced.  If  a  rational  com 
munity  can  supply  themselves  with  necessaries  and  com 
forts,  by  labouring  on  an  average  three  or  four  hours 
every  day,  they  will  probably  be  induced  to  labour 
three  or  four  more,  in  order  to  obtain  other  comforts  or 
luxuries ;  but  will  never  condemn  themselves  to  twelve 
or  fifteen  hours  of  daily  toil,  in  order  to  add  to  these  a 
few  trifles  of  conventional  or  imaginary  value.  Where 
the  real  wants  of  life  can  be  supplied  by  moderate  la 
bour,  it  will  never,  in  general,  be  excessive ;  and  the 
effect  of  the  improvements  in  physical  science  will 
therefore  be,  as  I  have  stated  above,  to  abridge  the 
labour  and  increase  the  comforts  of  all.  The  surplus 
time  of  the  community  will  be  devoted  to  social  inter 
course  and  intellectual  improvement.  The  favourable 
operation  of  such  a  state  of  things  upon  character  and 
morals,  hardly  need  to  be  described.  Man,  under  these 
circumstances,  ceases  to  be  a  mechanical  tool  or  a  beast 
of  burden,  and  takes  his  proper  rank  in  the  world  as  a 
moral  and  rational  being.  His  faculties  are  exercised, 
his  heart  is  enlarged,  and  his  spirit  gladdened  and  re 
freshed.  The  good  principle  of  his  nature  is  developed, 
and  the  evil  are  kept  in  check.  He  is  in  short,  accord 
ing  to  the  measure  of  his  capacity  as  an  imperfect  crea 
ture,  virtuous  and  happy.  I  am  no  believer,  as  I  have 
declared  above,  in  earthly  Utopias  or  in  the  entire  ex 
tirpation  of  misery  and  vice.  I  know,  we  all  know  by 
fatal  experience,  the  frailty  of  our  constitution;  and 


360 

there  seems  to  be  no  more  reason  to  hope  that  we  shall 
ever  be  absolutely  good  and  perfectly  happy  in  this 
world,  than  there  is  to  fear  that  we  shall  ever  be  com 
pletely  vicious  and  miserable.  But  I  see  no  ground  for 
assuming  the  present  state  of  civilization  in  Europe  or 
America,  as  the  nee  plus  ultra  of  our  possible  attain 
ments,  rather  than  that  of  China  or  New  Holland.  We 
find  the  different  branches  of  the  human  family,  accord 
ing  to  the  circumstances  in  which  they  are  placed,  ex 
hibiting  the  most  various  and  opposite  characters ;  and 
if  the  situation  of  the  United  States  be  as  much  more 
favourable  than  that  of  most  other  communities  of  an 
cient  and  modern  times,  as  I  have  been  led  to  believe 
and  represent  it,  I  can  imagine  no  cause  why  they  may 
not  attain  a  height  of  civilization,  or  in  other  words,  a 
degree  of  wealth,  knowledge,  virtue,  and  happiness,  as 
much  above  that  of  the  present  population  of  Europe 
and  America,  as  the  latter  is  above  that  of  the  degene 
rate  tribes  of  Africa,  or  the  Kanzas  and  Omawhaws  of 
our  own  continent. 

The  future  state  of  the  elegant  and  ornamental  arts 
in  this  country,  is  another  question  more  curious  per 
haps  than  important,  but  which  I  should  also  be  dispos 
ed  to  decide  in  favour  of  their  progress.  It  seems  to  be 
thought  by  some,  that  these  are  a  kind  of  exotic  plants, 
which  can  only  flourish  in  an  unnatural,  that  is  a  vicious 
atmosphere ;  and  that  a  really  good  government  affords 
them  as  such  no  encouragement  or  protection.  Where 
the  solid  fruits  of  labour  are  abundant  and  within  the 
reach  of  all,  it  is  argued  that  nobody  will  waste  his  time 
in  acquiring  and  exercising  talents  that  are  of  little  real 


361 

value  to  the  public,  and  are  rarely  profitable  to  their 
possessors.  Others  hold,  on  the  contrary,  that  a  free 
and  prosperous  country  is  the  natural  home  of  all  the 
fine  as  well  as  useful  arts.  They  maintain,  for  example, 
that  poetry  and  eloquence,  the  highest  of  them  all,  are 
the  forms  in  which  superior  minds  communicate  the 
delicate  impressions  made  upon  them  by  the  beauties  of 
nature  and  their  own  lofty  imaginations,  to  other  minds 
less  favoured  by  education  and  original  constitution; 
and  it  is  said  (with  some  show  of  reason)  that  these  forms 
will  arrive  most  surely  at  perfection,  wherever  the  occa 
sions  of  such  communication  are  most  favourable  and 
frequent,  which  is  doubtless  the  case  in  free  govern 
ments.  The  same  is  true,  with  proper  qualifications, 
of  painting,  music,  architecture,  and  the  rest.  Art,  in 
fact,  is  the  mirror  of  nature ;  and  can  it  be  affirmed 
with  probability,  that  the  image  it  presents  will  be 
least  beautiful  where  the  original  exists  in  the  greatest 
perfection?  Is  the  pecuniary  advantage  afforded  to  the 
artist  by  a  large  and  flourishing  community  less  likely 
to  be  steady  and  ample,  than  that  which  results  from 
the  capricious  bounty  of  a  few  rich  individuals,  or  less 
fitted  to  give  to  art  its  true  and  natural  direction? 
Is  there  not  something  more  awakening  to  a  generous 
mind,  in  the  prospect  of  deserving  and  obtaining  the  ap 
plause  of  an  intelligent  and  sympathizing  nation,  than  in 
all  the  pensions  that  kings  can  bestow?  Would  Herodo 
tus  have  exchanged  the  rapturous  shouts  with  which 
•the  reading  of  his  history  was  received  by  the  Greeks, 
at  the  Olympic  games,  for  the  patronage  of  any  Persian 
satrap?  Or  if  all  these  notions  be  vain  and  idle,  does 

46 


362 

not  recent  experience  show  that  the  bookseller  is,  after 
all,  the  best  Maecenas?  Instead  of  apprehending  a  dege 
neracy  of  the  arts  among  us,  I  am  prone  to  believe,  on 
the  contrary,  that  they  will  flourish  here  much  more 
than  they  have  done  in  Europe,  where  some  of  them 
have  never  thriven,  and  hardly  one  has  equalled  the 
standard  of  antiquity. 

But  however  this  point  may  be  settled,  which  is  after 
all  one  of  little  practical  moment,  and  considering  the 
example  which  we  shall  hold  out  to  Europe  as  merely 
that  of  a  nation  more  populous,  wealthy,  powerful,  vir 
tuous,  and  happy  than  any  one  which  has  ever  been 
known  before,  we  may  still  inquire,  whether  this  exam 
ple  will  produce  no  effect,  in  recommending  to  other 
nations  the  adoption  of  the  institutions  which  create  this 
superiority?  When  they  see  our  improved  system  of 
social  machinery  in  full,  easy,  and  steady  operation,  pro 
ducing  results  so  much  more  favourable  than  those  which 
are  in  use  elsewhere,  is  it  in  human  nature  that  they 
should  not  borrow  or  imitate  so  great  an  invention?  I 
think  not,  and  cannot  but  anticipate,  that  the  success  of 
our  institutions  will  exercise  a  very  auspicious  influence 
of  a  quiet  and  pacific  kind,  upon  those  of  the  old  world. 
Much,  however,  will  depend  on  the  progress  of  events 
in  Europe  itself,  and  the  nature  of  the  political  move 
ments  that  may  successively  modify  its  position  and  fo 
reign  relations.  We  can  therefore  only  calculate,  with 
some  degree  of  certainty,  on  the  continued  progress  and 
full  success  of  the  cause  of  civilization  and  humanity 
in  our  own  vast  continent ;  but  even  this  is  a  prospect 
sufficiently  glorious  to  excite  the  enthusiasm  and  grati- 


368 

tude  of  every  elevated  mind,  and  to  rank  the  discoverer 
of  America  among  the  greatest  benefactors  of  the  human 
race. 

It  is  time,  however,  to  conclude  these  reflections. 
Notwithstanding  the  disclaims  I  have  made  of  Utopian 
dreams  and  baseless  theories  of  all  kinds,  I  am  aware 
that  some  persons  (who  would  perhaps  regret  to  see 
them  realized, )  will  charge  even  the  most  moderate  an 
ticipations,  in  which  I  have  ventured  to  indulge,  with 
exaggeration.  I  can  only  say  that  I  have  advanced  no 
conjectures,  without  giving  what  I  think  good  reasons 
for  them ;  and  that  if  the  latter  can  be  refuted,  I  am 
quite  prepared  to  abandon  the  former.  Other  persons 
perhaps  may  doubt  the  expediency  of  holding  up  these 
favourable  pictures  of  our  own  institutions,  and  future 
prospects.  Why  nourish  in  this  way,  they  may  say, 
a  national  vanity  already  perhaps  sufficiently  exalted  ? 
If  we  are  really  a  favoured  and  a  prosperous  nation,  let 
us  rather  thank  God  for  it,  and  enjoy  our  blessings  in 
silence,  than  excite  the  envy  and  malignity  of  other 
less  fortunate  communities,  by  empty  boasting.  If  we 
occupy  a  high  and  commanding  stand  in  the  political 
system,  let  us  not,  by  indiscreetly  vaunting  our  strength 
and  advantages,  induce  other  governments  to  attempt 
to  deprive  us  of  them.  In  these  remarks,  there  is 
some  degree  of  force  ;  and  I  should  regret  to  be  consi 
dered,  by  competent  judges,  as  having  passed  the  line 
of  discretion,  in  speaking  of  the  political  importance 
and  future  greatness  of  our  union.  But  in  order  to  ap 
preciate  fully  the  value  of  our  liberty,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  we  should,  in  the  first  place;  correctly 


364 

estimate  the  advantages,  for  which  we  are  indebted  to 
it ;  and  in  order  to  discharge  our  duties  as  a  -nation,  we 
must  know  our  precise  position  as  such,  in  the  system 
of  which  we  form  a  part.  On  both  these  subjects  there 
are  various  opinions.  Some  deny  that  our  liberty  has 
contributed  at  all  to  our  progress  in  wealth  and  great 
ness.  Others  contend  that  we  have  nothing  to  do  as  a 
people  with  foreign  relations.  Both  these  doctrines 
are,  in  my  opinion,  of  dangerous  tendency,  and  I  have 
endeavoured,  in  the  course  of  the  preceding  work,  to 
prove  their  incorrectness.  If  I  have  represented  the 
government  as  occupying  a  lofty  station  among  the 
leading  powers  of  the  world,  it  has  been  with  a  view  of 
impressing  upon  the  minds  of  our  rulers  and  of  the  na 
tion,  the  deep  responsibility  under  which  they  act,  in 
consequence  of  the  immense  influence,  which  is  neces 
sarily  attached  to  their  position,  and  which  they  must 
exercise  even  in  refusing  to  exercise  it.  If  I  have  pre 
sented  a  flattering  image  of  our  present  situation  and 
future  prospects,  it  has  been  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
more  distinctly  the  inestimable  worth  of  the  political 
institutions  which  have  made  us  what  we  are.  Should 
one  or  both  of  these  great  objects  be  in  any  way  effect 
ed,  I  shall  think  myself,  I  will  not  say  rewarded  for  the 
trouble  of  writing  this  work,  which  has  been  to  me  a 
pleasure,  labor  ipse  voluptas,  but  fully  satisfied  with  its 
success. 


THE    END. 


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